


The Anadrome

by MayRaven1798



Series: Shifting Timelines [4]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Androids, Deception, Depression, Eventual Data/Geordi, F/M, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Geordi starts to question his feelings, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Memory Loss, Mistaken Identity, Pre-Slash, Pregnancy, Recovered Memories, Sexual Encounters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:40:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 87,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26085079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayRaven1798/pseuds/MayRaven1798
Summary: An ‘Anadrome’ is a word that when spelt backwards forms a different word.Next instalment of TNG AU where Wesley is now a woman. Follows my previous story ‘Lore and Lee’ and the movie storyline for ‘Generations’. In this universe Data never installed the emotions chip because he was able to develop his own emotions.Wesley and Lore are meant be together, but there are complications. The first being Lore’s lack of memory and Data’s lack of self control. To make matters worse, Geordi is starting to wake up to how much Data means to him. This story has infidelities, mistaken identities, too many androids and an unorthodox pregnancy.
Relationships: Data & Geordi La Forge, Geordi LaForge/Robin Lefler, Wesley Crusher/Data, Wesley Crusher/Lore
Series: Shifting Timelines [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861675
Comments: 28
Kudos: 7





	1. A Cat Named Fido

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies to anyone who’s new to this storyline. You will probably be lost if you don’t go back and read ‘Lore and Lee’. ‘Second Time Around’ will fill in a few blanks as well. Or you can just ask me your questions and I can try explain my weird self. As always ST:TNG doesn’t belong to me. I would love any feedback and/or comments. Are these stories getting too convoluted? Would people prefer something simpler? (I blame all the extra hours my brain is idle these days.)  
> Cheers!  
> MayRaven1798

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley comes home after being detained for several months pending murder charges. Once again she must adjust to a routine life; this time on a new Enterprise. 
> 
> With the love of her life gone she’s now a single parent. Although she does have an entire crew to help her look after her special hybrid daughter she still struggles to be a good mother.

“I honestly can’t believe that I’m meeting my daughter after she was exonerated from murder charges,” said Beverly as she gave Wesley a hug on the transporter platform. Luckily, the sentiment behind her mother’s embrace made up for her less than sensitive comment.

“It was self-defence, Mom,” her daughter groaned as she reminded her mother once again that she had no other choice at the time. From the outside she looked annoyed, but on the inside she still felt sick about the whole thing. 

“I know, I know,” the older woman said dismissively. “I’m just glad that you can put all this behind you and come home.” Beverly was careful to keep her observations about her daughter’s weight loss and unkept appearance to herself. She bit back the impulse to suggest Wesley speak with Counsellor Troi as well. There would be time for that later.

“Me too,” the younger women said with an exhausted sigh. “It’s Zoe birthday in a couple of weeks and I just want everything to be normal again...well as normal as it can it be for her.”

“Oh things are pretty normal,” Beverly said offhandedly. “Data’s been doting on her and she’s very excited about Jayden. I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

“Just how mad is Robin that I missed her son’s birth?” she winced.

“Only a little. She knows that you would have been there if you could. It was a good thing she was off visiting her mother when she was; between Geordi being taken by Soran and the crash I don’t think she could have coped.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I can’t tell you how horrible it was to be stuck in detention only to hear that the Enterprise crashed. I thought everyone I loved was gone,” said Wesley who was understandably upset.

“It was a miracle that no one died,” Beverly noted quite seriously. “It was a bit of relief knowing that Zoe is mostly synthetic and didn’t suffer any serious injuries.”

“I am never leaving my little girl again,” Wesley told her mother with conviction. 

“Glad to hear it,” her mother added with a kind smile.

The two women laughed awkwardly as they both felt the need to change the subject again. Even though Wesley had been away for months and the new ship was strange to her, she still felt as though she was home again.

“So how do you like the new ship?” Wesley asked out of curiosity

“This Enterprise is quite a lot like the old one, just newer and shinier,” commented the older woman.

“It feels bigger.”

“That’s just because you’ve been living in a very small space,” rebutted Beverly.

When Wesley arrived in her quarters—now shared with her mother and daughter—she was a little perturbed to discover that there was another life form also living with them.

“A cat?” Wesley grumbled as she watched the black fluff-ball run across the floor.

“It’s still pretty much a kitten,” her mother informed her casually. “Data would have kept him in his quarters, but Spot didn’t like sharing her space.”

The younger woman rolled her eyes as she nearly tripped over a cat toy. “Of course she didn’t. I can relate.”

“Mama!” exclaimed Zoe as she came running out of her bedroom and tried to jump into her mother’s arms. Wesley hadn’t seen her little girl in person in weeks and holding her made her instantly forget all about her exhaustion and frustrations.

“Hey baby girl, how are you?” she asked softly as she crouched down, finding her too heavy to pick up. It was less the girl’s size and more her synthetic heritage that was making the task difficult.

“Good, Mama. We have a cat now,” the girl said with excitement.

“I see. What’s the kitty’s name?” she asked with equal amounts of enthusiasm.

“Fido,” Zoe giggled as she took her mother’s hand to lead her over to meet the feline.

Wesley looked to her mother. Beverly shrugged her shoulders dramatically and shook her head. “I bet you can guess who helped pick the name,” the older woman teased.

“Hmmm, I bet it was Uncle Data,” Wesley mused in response.

“Yeah, Uncle Data said Fido was a good name,” Zoe informed her.

“Oh did he?” she laughed, knowing that she was giddy from fatigue. She was also a little amazed at how far her daughter’s verbal skills had progressed in her absence.

“You do not like it?” Data asked as he too came out of Zoe’s room. 

Wesley caught herself staring at him for a moment. She hadn’t expected to see him so soon, even though it made sense that someone had to have been with Zoe while her mother was meeting her in the transporter room. It was difficult to look at him for too long and she made herself look away again.

“It’s fine, I guess,” she told him as she tried to distract herself with her daughter again.

“Zoe missed Spot when she was not staying in my quarters. Beverly agreed that it would be alright; as an early birthday present,” he explained.

“Sure, Data. That was really sweet of you,” she said without turning around.

The android quickly caught on to her aversion to his presence and decided to give the women some time alone. 

“If you do not require anything more I will take my leave,” he said plainly.

Zoe ran over to him and hugged his legs. “Bye Uncle Data,” she said quietly as though she missed him already.

“Goodbye, Zoe. I will see you again tomorrow,” he told her with a small smile.

“Okay,” she moped.

“Bye, Data,” Beverly mused as she took her granddaughter’s hand and led her to the couch to sit with the kitten.

“It is good to have you home, Wesley. I hope the transition will be easy for you,” he said politely as he reached the door.

“Thanks, Data. I don’t think it will be all that hard. Anything’s better than those bunks at Starfleet Command,” she commented as she tried to give him a smile.

“I imagine you are correct,” he said in agreement before departing.

“So Zoe’s a real chatter box now?” Wesley mused to her mother as she tried not to linger on her feelings of grief.

“I think maybe missing her father and mother made her find new ways to express herself,” Beverly said with sympathy. “You two were probably good at knowing exactly what she needed. With both of you absent she had no choice but to start talking more.”

Wesley could feel the tension in her mother’s tone when she said ‘absent’. As though she wasn’t ready to say that Lore was dead in front of Zoe.

“Besides, she’s so happy to talk to Gramma Juliana over the comm and she couldn’t do that if she was still fairly pre-verbal,” Beverly added with a grin.

“And Uncle Earl,” Zoe said with a giggle.

“Who’s Uncle Earl?” Wesley questioned with concern. This was the first she was hearing the name. She was waiting for her mother to confess to some new romance she’d started while she was away.

“I believe he’s a relation of Juliana’s,” her mother explained. “Sometimes he’s there at her house and he and Zoe get to chatting.”

“And you don’t think it’s weird that some man you’ve never met is chatting with your cute little granddaughter?” Wesley wondered with a suspicious air.

“Juliana knows him, Wes. He’s not a stranger,” she assured her daughter.

“Okay. What do you and Earl talk about, Zoe?” the young woman asked her barely three year old little girl.

“Mostly flowers. Earl knows about daisies and roses and trees,” Zoe told her as she petted her kitten.

“He’s a botanist, I believe,” Beverly said as though to answer the unasked question on Wesley’s mind.

“Well, Zoe does like her flowers,” she conceded with reluctance. “If you think it’s okay, then I guess it’s okay.”

“It’s fine. Besides the more people she talks to the more social she gets. She’s doing very well in preschool with the other children her age,” her mother explained. Then she thought of something else she should mention. “I have one of my nurses helping from time to time. Her name is Delia Ashton. Hopefully you’ll like her as much as Zoe does.”

“I’m sure I will.” Wesley still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of her daughter being taught to trust everyone so complaisantly, but felt a little out numbered on the subject. So she let it go for the time being and went into her bedroom. That was when she noticed the bag by her dresser. 

It took her a moment to recognize that it was the same one she’d packed just before her planned escape with Lore and Zoe. She could still picture Lore leaning casually in the doorway as she gathered her belongings. She wasn’t entirely sure why it was still just as she’d left it and was reluctant to open it.

Beverly came to stand beside her daughter. “Sorry, Wes. That’s really all we could salvage of your things. Data had that bag tucked away for safe keeping.”

Wesley frowned a little at the notion that he would hold onto some of her things in such a careful manner. She wondered if he’d looked through the contents. Then she suddenly remember the cryogenic container that she’d packed along with some of her other things.

The ensign pulled the bag up onto her bed and opened it. Sure enough there it was. Her mother came over to examine the canister. 

“You had that in there this whole time?” Beverly questioned in disbelief.

“Who knows if it’s still functioning, the container I mean,” she said with some concern.

“Let’s hope that it is. There were three samples in total and the other two were destroyed when the ship crashed,” her mother informed her.

“Poor Data,” Wesley sighed.

The doctor turned the container over and grinned when she saw the lights were still blinking on the underside. “We might be in luck. Do you mind terribly if I take it back to Sickbay and have a better look?”

“Not at all. And honestly, if it's still viable, please give it to Data. He deserves to have it,” she told her openly; glad that maybe she could finally repay the synthetic man for all his kindness.

......

The next morning Wesley made sure to stop in to see Robin and her new son. She was worried that she was in for a verbal beating from her friend, so she brought her daughter as a buffer.

Geordi answered the door and greeted her with an inviting hug. Wesley couldn’t remember the last time the man had hugged her, or if he had in fact ever hugged her before. She decided it must be something that fatherhood had brought out in him and who was she to turn away anyone’s affection right now.

“Wes, it’s so good to see you. I heard you made it back safe and sound,” Geordi said softly as he released his hold. Then he picked up Zoe even though it was a bit of struggle even for him.

“It’s so good to see you, too. I missed everyone so much,” she beamed. Then she realized that there was something very different about him. “Oh wow. I was so distracted I almost didn’t notice,” she added as she indicated his new ocular implants.

Geordi smiled at her and she could actually see the crinkling at the edges of his eyes. His ‘eyes’ were now steely blue colour and his VISOR was absent since he no longer needed it.

“Robin insisted I have it done before Jayden was born and I hate to admit it, but she was right. It’s made a world of difference,” he told her.

“I’m so happy for you. I know you were worried about having it done,” she said kindly as touched is arm.

“Come on,” he said feeling a little too emotional and in need of a distraction. “I know you’re not really here to see me,” he teased lightheartedly. He put the little girl down and took her hand.

The chief engineer led his visitors back into the bedroom to his girlfriend and their twelve week old son. Robin smiled with tired edges to her expression and Wesley all but melted when she saw the squirming infant in her arms. Zoe was already up on the bed and trying to hold the baby’s hand.

“You were right, Robin. Seeing your baby totally would have converted me,” she said lovingly as she gently hugged her friend from the side.

“I’m so glad you’re here. He really needs changing,” Robin said with a tired laugh.

“Robbie I can do that. Visit with Wes,” Geordi said with a frown.

“No, no. It’s fine. I can do it. If there’s one thing you never forget it’s how to change a diaper,” Wesley said with understanding. “Besides I’m sure you need to get to Engineering.”

Geordi’s frown deepened. He really did have to get going. So he kissed Robin and Jayden goodbye and left the two friends to catch up.

Wesley was thrilled to take the baby in her arms. “He has that new baby smell,” she whimpered slightly jealous and missing when her daughter was so tiny.

“That’s great that you think so. All I can smell right now is his dirty diaper,” Robin grumbled, eliciting a giggle from Zoe.

“Stinky baby,” the little girl joked.

“Oh come on, you’re just tired,” Wesley said with empathy as she got to work cleaning up the little baby’s bottom. “Trust me, you’ll miss all of this in a few more months when he’s flirting with your friends and could care less who’s holding him.”

“I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to be away from Zoe for so long,” her friend noted with a touch of sadness as she played with the girl’s long dark brown hair. 

“It was only a couple of months,” she said with a dismissive shrug as she finished fastening the new diaper. “It wasn’t too bad, right Zoe?”

“No, but I missed you, Mama,” she said with unguarded honesty.

“I bet you did. It was nearly four and a half months, Crusher,” Robin informed her as she sat up a little more. “I’m really sorry for your loss by the way. I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but if you ever do I’m always here for you. You know that right?”

“You already shared your sympathies when it happened, Robin. I know you care,” she said as she tried not to cry about things again. Besides, she knew that she needed to stay strong in front of Zoe. Luckily, her daughter was distracted by Jayden and didn’t really seem to be following their conversation.

“Well everyone cares, but not everyone feels comfortable enough to talk to you about what happened and who you lost,” her friend said frankly.

“I know and I get it. Most of them are just relieved that he’s gone,” Wesley said sadly as she handed Robin her freshly changed son. “He’s so beautiful,” she added as they both sighed at the lovely little baby.

“No offence but you’re not pregnant now are you?” Robin dared to ask as she brought Jayden to rest on her chest.

Wesley pulled a face, slightly offended. “Um, no. I think I just happened to lose weight everywhere but my middle. I honestly don’t know how my mom looks as fit and toned and as she does.“

“Well when she tells you her secret pass it on would you? We moms have stick together,” she laughed. “Do you think you might have another one someday?”

“Probably not,” she confessed with honesty. “I was seriously considering it for five minutes...but then things changed.”

“Wes, you are allowed to fall in love again one day. It’s allowed,” her friend said with importance. “I get that you and Data will probably never reconcile and maybe that’s for the best, but you can’t know what the future might hold.”

“I have to think of Zoe; she’s my priority,” she said as she watched the girl watch Jayden.

“I know and I think she knows it too, but a sad mommy is no good to anyone,” Robin teased with an exaggerated frown.

“Well I’m working it,” Wesley said insistently as she rubbed at her lower back.

“You are absolutely certain you aren’t knocked up?”

“Robin, it’s not just something that can happen when your partner is an android,” she chided.

“Yeah, well...that’s what you thought the first time and look how that turned out,” her friend reminded her as she gestured to Zoe.

Wesley thought of the cryogenic canister and knew that it’s contents were still intact. It wasn’t as though Lore could have only taken a portion of it. That wasn’t how it worked. Then she remembered the other two samples that were supposedly destroyed when the ship crashed and she made a mental note to check the results of her last physical, just to be sure. It would be just like Lore to not tell her something so important.

“Do you want me to take him again so that you can get some sleep?” Wesley asked, eager to change the subject. 

“Sure, maybe just for a little while,” Robin reluctantly agreed. 

“Great. Sweet dreams,” she added as she reclaimed Jayden and kissed her friend’s forehead.

.....


	2. The Voice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. Chapter two and we get right into things.

When Wesley returned to her quarters she found it in disarray. A part of her wanted to leave the mess for her mother, but she knew that would be unfair since the CMO was on active duty and she wasn’t. In fact she had nothing better to do with her afternoon except clean up. She had dropped Zoe off at the preschool so that she could busy her quickly evolving mind and socialize with the few other children close to her age.

Wesley began gathering toys, both the cat’s and her daughter’s, off the floor. Then she realized that a fern had been knocked over by the window. She couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of keeping a plant on the window ledge when that window only looked out onto the darkness of space.

She was in the middle of scooping up some of the dirt and placing it back into the pot when the computer alerted her to a communication.

“Incoming message from Atrea IV. Audio only,” chirped the computer.

The young mother hadn’t been expecting a call from Juliana, but suspected that she must have heard of the exoneration and her subsequent return home. She had been avoiding any contact with the woman since she knew it would only bring up guilty feelings about Lore.

She heaved a heavy sigh before reluctantly taking the call. “Please put it through, computer,” she commanded politely as she continued to right the houseplant. “Hello, Juliana. How are you?” she called into the air hoping she didn’t sound annoyed.

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s not Juliana,” came an oddly familiar male voice. 

“Pran?” she guessed. Having never actually spoken to the woman’s husband before she was unsure.

“No, sorry. It’s Earl, actually,” said the voice with an uncomfortable chuckle. 

Wesley stopped what she was doing and went over to the comm console. She was eager to meet the man properly and tapped a few buttons before she remembered that the computer had said the message was audio only.

“Oh, well, hello. This is Wesley,” she said as she narrowed her eyes at the blank screen.

“Wesley?” he repeated and then went quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry I was trying to reach Beverly Crusher and her granddaughter, Zoe.”

She grinned to herself that he wouldn’t know who she was because she had been away; and knowing Juliana, the man probably only knew her as ‘Lee’.

“You have the right connection. I’m Zoe’s mother, Lee,” she clarified.

“Oh, Lee. I didn’t realize,” he said with another nervous laugh. 

There was something rough, but kind in his voice. He had gravelled tones that reminded her of Dr. Soong. She really wished in that moment that she could see the face of the odd man who taken such an interest in her daughter.

“Why are you coming through as audio only?” she wondered aloud.

“Yeah, sometimes there’s a energy flux somewhere between Atrea IV and wherever the Enterprise is travelling. It happens a lot,” he explained.

“I see,” she said, though dissatisfied with his answer she decided to accept it at face value. “Well, Earl, my daughter isn’t in right now and neither is my mother.”

“I understand. Sorry to have bothered you. Please let them know I called,” he requested.

“Wait. Before you go. How exactly does Juliana know you?” she asked quite sternly.

“Hmm...right. Who is this weirdo calling to speak with your young child?” he said quite dramatically. “I’m her cousin by marriage.”

“And you just hang around her house?”

“I’ve been living in the Tainers’ cottage. I recently went through something personal and she let me come and stay with her for awhile,” he explained. “She’d just lost a son and I guess she was feeling generous.”

“She told you...about her son?” she asked not even trying to hide her pain.

“Yeah, I honestly think that she was looking forward to all of you coming here and living with her. She tries to stay strong and I can tell that her husband doesn’t engage her about it, but she’s hurting.”

Wesley found herself feeling more than a little guilty about Juliana and her loss. She started to cry and was suddenly grateful that this man she didn’t know couldn’t see her face.

“Hey, Lee? Are you alright?” he asked after a moment when she didn’t respond to him.

She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she managed to tell him with only a small quiver in her voice.

“I’ve upset you. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to speak of things that were none of my business. I forgot for a moment that the son she lost was important to you.”

She couldn’t deny that she did feel it was none of his business, but he was being so understanding and gentle that she gave him a pass.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m actually really happy that Juliana has a friend right now. In fact, maybe you could do me a favour and let her know I’m thinking about her and that I would love to talk to her sometime soon.”

“I can definitely do that,” he said with some relief. “Thanks for the chat, Lee.”

“Goodbye, Earl.” 

She frowned when she said the man’s name, it sounded alien to her. She wondered what sort of Atrean named their child ‘Earl’.

.....

Ensign Crusher found herself struggling to return to ‘normal’. Her mother insisted that she would do better once she was back to work and had something to occupy her time other than her daughter. Wesley was cleared for duty a few days after returning home, but was a little concerned if she would get along with her co-workers. 

It turned out that she was alone in those concerns and no one so much as batted an eye as she resumed her place in Engineering. She supposed that stranger things had happened to her in the last year. It wasn’t as though she was a convicted felon; she had been cleared on all charges after all.

When she spoke to Alyssa Ogawa in Sickbay about her concerns about an un-planned pregnancy the nurse assured her that none of the scans or bloodwork showed anything. The ensign felt a little lighter knowing it was all just a misunderstanding. 

She caught up with Data as he was leaving the Chief Engineer’s office. He gave her a concerned sideways glance before he realized that she was actually vying for his attention.

“Is everything alright, Ensign Crusher?” he asked in a very monotone, professional manner.

“I had a quick question for you, sir,” she replied as she looked up at him and worried her lower lip out of habit. When she noted his blatant stare she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and winced. “Sorry.”

Data swallowed and took a moment to refocus. “Go ahead, Ensign.”

“Data, are we ever going to able to just be friends?”

“That was what you needed to ask me?” 

“No...no, I just felt like I should ask. You know, after the lip and the staring,” she clarified.

“I apologize if I have made you feel uncomfortable. I will endeavour to behave more appropriately,” he said as flatly as possible.

“That’s not what I meant,” she told him, feeling foolish. “Are we okay?”

“Are we?” he countered unsure of the answer himself.

“I hope so,” she replied honestly.

“Then we are adapting to our new relationship as...as. What are we now?”

“You’re Zoe’s uncle, so I guess we’re technically in-laws?” she told him still not completely sure.

“Fine. We will be as siblings and not as ex-lovers,” he said reluctantly.

Wesley wasn’t entirely sure she was going to be okay with that dynamic either. Not when she could still remember what it felt like to fall asleep in his arms.

“Data, what do you know about a man named Earl?” she asked him, trying to remain on task.

“Juliana’s cousin, Earl?” the android asked in order to clarify.

“Yeah, he seems nice, but I couldn’t see his face and I kind of got a weird feeling about him,” she explained.

Data smiled a little and shook his head. “If you feel weird about him now, wait until you do see his face.”

“Excuse me?” she questioned, slightly offended that he wasn’t exactly letting her in on the the joke.

“Earl is Juliana’s cousin by marriage,” he told her plainly.

“And...?”

“He is a Soong descendant; therefore he looks much like my father,” he elaborated.

“Oh fuck,” she cursed as she slapped her forehead. Data gave her an odd look for assaulting herself. “When he said by marriage I just assumed he meant he was related to Dr. Pran Tainer.”

“Please watch your language, Ensign,” he reminded her. “And no. He is not related to Juliana’s current husband, but her former one.”

“Sorry, sir,” she winced again. “So you’ve spoken to him?”

“Yes. He is quite normal and well adjusted for a Soong,” he informed her with a bit of a smirk. “He is a botanist.”

“So I’ve heard,” she muttered. “And you don’t mind him talking with Zoe?”

“No, of course not. He is family and Juliana trusts him.”

She felt like pushing her point further, but then she realized that Data seemed to be very affectionate when mentioning his mother; not that he’d actually called her that. It was still nice to see his acceptance of her none the less.

“Thanks, Data. That makes me feel a bit better,” she told him with some relief.

“I am glad I could help,” he added kindly.

“You’ve been such a huge help with Zoe. I can never thank you enough,” she said with sincerity. She wasn’t sure where her mother was at with testing that sample they’d found, but it didn’t seem as though the android was aware of it yet.

“You could start by not being quite so desirable when we are on duty together,” he offered with a pained expression.

Wesley furrowed her brows at his comment, she hoped he was joking because she had no idea what else she could do to keep him from getting the wrong idea. More to the point, she didn’t know what she was doing to give the wrong idea other than that thing with her lip.

Instead of arguing, or trying to figure out his meaning she straightened her posture. “I will do my best,” she said firmly.

.....

That evening when the ensign returned to her quarters she discovered Deanna Troi with Zoe at the piano. The little girl was playing ‘Heart and Soul’. Wesley had never known the empath to play any instrument and she gave her a questioning look.

There was another woman in the room who smiled and pointed at the comm close to where the pair were seated. 

“Zoe’s getting her music lesson,” said the woman with blue-black hair and orange-gold eyes. “I’m Delia Ashton by the way,” the woman added as she offered her hand. 

Wesley instinctively took the proffered hand and found herself staring at the other woman. Her complexion had a deep emerald hue. She thought for a moment that maybe Delia could be part Vulcan, but decided that she’s as too obviously green. 

“Wesley Crusher,” she whispered back. 

“I figured,” replied Delia with a goodnatured grin. “Your little girl looks so much like you.”

“Oh, I always thought she looked like her father,” Wesley countered awkwardly. She still didn’t quite understand why Zoe was playing piano with Troi until Zoe hit a sour note and a voice came over the comm.

“Try again, Zoe. You were doing really well,” the man said over the comm.

“Okay, Earl,” the little one replied quite happily despite her misstep. 

Wesley shook her head. It would seem that everyone was familiar with the odd man who was living worlds away. 

“Why don’t you start at the beginning,” suggested Deanna. 

“Bum ba da dum, bum ba da dum, bum ba da dum,” went the keys.

As Deanna continued to help Zoe, they could hear the accompaniment join her from over the transmission. Delia started to tidy up the room, but Wesley insisted that she take over now that she was home. So the beautiful stranger with green toned skin left and Wesley picked up toys while enjoying the musical interlude. 

“It’s a song, right Deanna?” asked Zoe.

“Yes, that’s right Zoe,” the empath replied with a warm smile.

“Mama, do you know this song?” the little girl inquired over her shoulder as she continued to play the same notes over and over.

“Sure, Zoe,” she told her warmly.

“Sing it, Mama,” her daughter requested brightly.

Wesley paused. She was never much of a singer. Lore used to be the one to sing their daughter to sleep at night.

“Let’s see if I remember it,” she said nervously. “Heart and soul...I fell in love with you. Heart and soul,” Then she paused again unsure of what came next.

“The way a fool would do, mad-ly. Because you held me tight and stole a kiss in the night,” Earl continued for her. 

Wesley’s face fell and she suddenly sat down as though the wind had been knocked out of her.

“You know I think that’s enough for today,” Deanna interjected as she felt the wave of grief slam into her friend. 

“Oh sure,” replied Earl. “Just keep up the practice, Zoe. We’ll have you composing your own music in no time.”

“I will. Maybe next time I can sing too,” the girl said excitedly. 

“Maybe. I look forward to it.” Then Earl signed off.

“Zoe why don’t you go and play in your room for awhile. I need to talk to your mother,” Deanna instructed softly.

The little girl gave Deanna a quick a hug before hopping down off the piano bench and running off to play.

“Are you alright, Wes?” the empath questioned, though she already knew that the woman was far from it.

“His voice...when he sang,” she muttered as she tried to hold herself together.

Deanna moved to sit next to the other woman and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“I know I kept my distance when things first came to light about you and Lore, but it was wrong of me. I should have been more supportive,” the empath told her softly.

“You had every right to be upset,” Wesley countered with understanding. “But I really have to tell you that during the short time we spent together on the Enterprise he was more or less the man I knew on Omicron Theta.”

“Oh Wes, I’m so sorry,” Deanna said in sympathy as she pulled her into a proper hug. 

“It doesn’t matter now,” she muttered into ear. “I think Maddox would have gotten to him no matter where he was. At least I got to say goodbye to him; at least he wasn’t alone.”

“I can’t imagine how that might have been for you,” the other woman said sadly as they moved apart to look at one another again. “And how difficult it may still be to see Data everyday, now that you’re home.”

As if on cue, the main door slid open and the android in question stopped short as he took in the mood of the room.

“Is this a bad time?” Data asked as he tried to discern what was happening. “The door was open.”

Wesley burst into tears, but appeared to be laughing as well. Deanna and Data exchanged expressions of equal confusion.

“What is it, Data?” the ensign finally managed as she regained composure.

“I only wished to thank you,” he said quietly, not wanting to upset her further. “Your mother has confirmed the viability of the sample you hid in your bag. It is a miracle that it survived.”

“Sample?” Deanna asked unsure of what they were speaking of.

“Long story short, I hid a sample of the same stuff that made Zoe in my escape bag and it remained there until I returned. I’d forgotten all about it,” Wesley explained as she wiped her eyes with the heal of her hand.

“I don’t think I’ll ask where it came from in the first place,” the Counsellor noted, feeling that it was a very long story. “What do you plan to do with it, Data?”

“I was thinking it would be best to make use of it,” he said frankly. “I do not know how much longer it will remain viable and I could never expect to replicate it.”

“Then I guess you need a surrogate,” Deanna mused.

“Wait, you want to have a baby now?” Wesley inquired abruptly, feeling that this was the worst possible time imaginable.

“Now would be ideal,” the android said, seeing things quite differently. “The infant could grow up with Zoe and Jayden.” Then Data paused as he regarded his two female friends. “I do not suppose that either of you would be interested?”

Deanna put her hands up defensively. “Sorry, Data. I just don’t think I could have a baby for someone else and then hand it over. Even if it wasn’t from my own DNA.”

“I’ve been absent from my duties for so long that I can’t believe I still have a position here at all,” Wesley lamented. “Sorry, Data. Not such a great idea for me either, but I would be more than happy to speak to whomever you choose to let them know what to expect. It was a bit of bumpy ride.”

“I will most likely take you up on your offer, Wesley, though I am quite disappointed that neither of you would be willing to act as a surrogate,” he confessed. “It is difficult for me to think of anyone else I could entrust with such an important task.”

“If you wait a little longer, maybe Robin would help you out. You know how she likes to think of you and Geordi as family,” offered Troi.

“I do not how Geordi would feel about the idea of lending me the mother of his child, however they may be my best option,” Data said after some consideration.

“Yeah, I seriously don’t think my mom would be up for it either,” Wesley commented with a chuckle.

“It is unfortunate that Keiko O’Brien is so far away,” he added as he continued to think of women he knew and trusted.

“What about what’s her face?” Wesley asked before discerning a name. “Jenna?”

“Jenna D’Sora is married and no longer serving on the Enterprise,” Data informed her curtly.

“What about this nurse, Delia? My mom trusts her with Zoe,” Wesley added with a shrug.

“We have only known each other a short time. Besides I believe she has Orion heritage,” Data explained with uncertainty.

“Wow, that sounded a little bigoted,” Wesley shot back in disbelief. “Though it does explain her green complexion.”

“I did not mean to sound prejudice against her, though perhaps I did,” the android added with regret. “I only meant that I would not wish to make her feel as though it was expected of her to assist me.”

“Delia is lovely, but clearly Data isn’t willing to trust just anyone,” Deanna offered as a way to smooth things over.

“You are certain I could not persuade you, Wes? Just think, Zoe would have a bona fide sibling,” Data countered.

Deanna gave the other woman an teasing smile, but Wesley was still unconvinced. “I don’t know Data.”

“Take some time to think it over,” he said quickly as though if he spoke fast enough she couldn’t deny him outright. “There is no rush....except that there is.”

Both women laughed at his peculiar comment as he went into the other room to see Zoe before he left again.

“Well, at least you already know that Data is a wonderful father,” Deanna added lightheartedly.

“That’s not the problem,” Wesley grumbled. “I think I’m still grieving right now and I don’t think becoming pregnant will help my state of mind.”

“Except that Lore would have wanted another child, wouldn’t he?”

The ensign felt as though the empath was being exceptionally manipulative even for her. “That’s not fair. He’s not here anymore...”

“And how will you feel if something happens with whomever Data chooses and they lose the baby?”

“Deanna, that’s enough. How do you think I would feel if I lost the baby? I’ve already been through that. It was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me and that was only one day of believing she was gone,” she rambled in her own defence.

“Fine, I’m sorry. You’re right. I was wrong to insinuate that you should feel responsible...however.” The older woman paused for dramatic effect. “Won’t you feel responsible? This new child will be related to your daughter. If you come to an agreement with Data...they could legitimately be your child too.”

Wesley hated how right Deanna was. She couldn’t deny that even though she’d handed over the sample to Data in good faith she was feeling very pulled to be involved. Especially now that he wanted to act as soon as possible.

“Ugh...I have to talk to Geordi and get him to tell me that he won’t hand my job to someone else if I do this,” she said as she reconsidered her options.

“I think Geordi will be over the moon that you would do such an amazing thing for his best friend,” Deanna told her with affection.

“I should have been on bed rest for like the whole pregnancy...I’m not kidding,” she muttered with annoyance.

“So you might actually do it?” Deanna asked with a touch of excitement.

“Maybe,” Wesley conceded with some hesitation. 

As Data came back out into the main living area with Zoe he looked at the two women expectantly.

“Stop it, I know you heard every dang word, Data,” Wesley snarked as she refused to tell him she was going for it.

“You seem in worse spirits than when I left a few minutes ago. Perhaps I misheard you?” he questioned with concern.

“I want to sleep on it...but maybe,” she confessed.

Maybe was good enough for him. He grinned as he picked up his niece and brought her over to her little table to draw.

“I’m crazy...like legitimately insane,” she whined as she watched the two scribble away. “Why do they have to look so damned cute together?”

Deanna could only laugh at her friend’s inner conflict. It was obvious that she was already picturing what their little family would look like with a new addition. At the very least the distraction was improving the young woman’s state of mind.

........

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is well and having a lovely day. Let me know what you think :)


	3. Tempers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley has an unsettling encounter with her daughter and a strange conversation over the comm.

Wesley had had a particularly trying day. Geordi was pulled into a serious away mission for most of the day, which left Lt Barclay in charge of Engineering. Under normal circumstances Barclay was one of her favourite people, but as the shift went on and things became more stressful he was becoming less diplomatic. She even found herself coming to his defence once or twice. When she tried to pull the man aside and let him know about the problem he waved her off. He was too wrapped up in trying to keep the transporters online at the time.

The ensign understood and knew that the lieutenant was in the right to brush off her concerns while they were trying to ensure the safety of their crew, but it still put her in a bad mood. So while everyone else was patting each other on the back—after the away team was home safe again—she went back to her quarters to clean up and make sure that her daughter was seen to. Wesley didn’t have any actual problems with Delia lending a hand, but she felt as though she shouldn’t be needing the extra help any longer.

Zoe was eating at her little table when she tried to offer the kitten something.

“Now Zoe, is that safe for Fido?” the girl’s mother asked from across the room unsure if it was something organic, or not.

“Yes, Mama,” she replied sweetly.

“Because I’m sure Gran and Data have told you that if you feed him something that isn’t good for him it can make him sick,” the woman added to press her point.

“Yes, Mama. I know,” Zoe told her a less happy than before.

“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings, sweetheart, but you need to be careful,” Wesley said a little softer in her tone.

“Can I talk to Earl when I’m done?” her daughter asked in a sing-song way.

“No Zoe. I’m sure he’s busy,” she replied without much thought.

“But he likes to talk to me,” the cherub rebutted quickly.

“I know, baby girl, but we can’t just call on him all the time,” she said with a bit of frustration.

“Can he come to my party?”

Wesley knew that her mother had already been getting the toddler excited about having a birthday party. However, not only was Earl a man she still didn’t know very well, he was also so far away that the journey would be out of the question. She hadn’t even expected Juliana to come.

“I don’t think so,” she said softly, hoping Zoe wouldn’t push her luck.

“Why?”

“Because he lives far away from here,” she told her.

“But he wants to come,” Zoe pouted.

“Zoe you haven’t even asked him yet,” Wesley countered as she came to stand next to her daughter. “Now finish your meal.”

“No!” her daughter cried.

“Do you argue with Gran like this?”

“Gran would let Earl come to my party. Gran likes me,” Zoe complained at full volume.

“I like you, Zoe,” her mother told her firmly, although she was having her doubts at this particular moment.

“No you don’t. You took Papa and went away,” she whined.

The girl’s mother froze for a moment. She hadn’t really talked to her small daughter about what had really happened, or why she was gone for so long. She knew from her mother that they had used her work as an excuse. However, the more she interacted with her three year old the more she realized that she was actually exhibiting the intelligence of a child at least twice her age.

“Zoe, I’m sorry you’re upset about that, but I had to go away. If I could have taken you with me I would have,” she explained sadly as crouched down and put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“I know, Mama...but when will Papa come home?” Zoe asked just as sadly.

“Oh baby, Papa isn’t coming home,” Wesley told her as she tried not to cry.

“Why?”

“Because he can’t.”

“Yes he can...he’s just pretending,” Zoe said quietly as she pushed her plate away.

“No. No one is pretending,” she said sternly. She thought back to when Lore was hiding under the deck plates of the shuttle and how Zoe went along with it, thinking it was a game. This time there was no game and Lore wasn’t suddenly going to show up no matter how much she wished that he would. “Papa is gone.”

“No he isn’t!” Zoe shouted, angry again. “You’re just mean and won’t let him come back!”

“Zoe, that’s enough. If I could bring your papa back I would,” she told her daughter with conviction.

“No! You’re mean and won’t let him come to my party!” the little girl yelled. 

Then Zoe took hold of her mother’s hand where it held onto her little shoulder and forcibly twisted it away from her. Then she ran off into her bedroom. 

Wesley dropped down to the floor in shock. She dared to look down at her hand. She already knew that something was broken from the pain that was shooting from her fingers. No one had said anything about Zoe having tantrums, or using her android-like strength. She was starting to have serious doubts about bringing another very human, but quite synthetic person into being.

The ensign called on Deanna to sit with her daughter to try and calm her while she went to Sickbay to attend to her hand. When she returned, her friend fixed her with a very perturbed look.

“Zoe is convinced that Lore is alive and pretending to be someone else so that the ‘bad people’ won’t get him,” the Counsellor explained with a frown.

“What am I supposed to do, Deanna? She obviously remembers some of what happened,” Wesley said at a loss.

“At least she’s not mad at Data for his part in everything,” her friend said with a sigh.

“So who does Zoe think her father’s pretending to be?” the young mother asked with reluctance.

“You won’t like it,” Deanna warned.

“It’s that Earl guy, isn’t it?” Wesley huffed with frustration; she could see how that could happen. Even she became upset when his voice became too familiar.

“Yep,” she replied simply.

“What the hell I am supposed to do about that? I still barely know the man.”

“Maybe you should be talking to Juliana about this. Maybe she could explain to Zoe that Earl is not Lore,” Deanna offered in hushed tones.

“Good idea. How is Zoe now?”

“You should go and see her. She’s very sorry she hurt your hand,” Deanna told her with a frown.

“You explained to her what she did?” Wesley wasn’t annoyed, but she was a little surprised that her friend would take the initiative on such a delicate matter.

“I think it’s very import that she understands how strong she is. I know it’s upsetting, but if she ever does anything like that again I really feel that you should show her what she did. It’s not cruel...it would be crueller to not tell her and let her accidentally harm her kitten, or another child.”

“God, you’re right,” she conceded as she shook her head. She couldn’t even imagine the consequences of something like that happening and how detrimental it could be to Zoe. “I need to tell Data that I can’t help him right now. Zoe needs all of my attention.”

“I think he’ll understand,” her friend said kindly.

“Thank you Deanna,” Wesley said with heartfelt gratitude.

......

When Wesley broke the bad news to Data he just sat there and stared at his hands in his lap. Her heart broke for him. She new that she wasn’t the best choice for her genes, or even her parenting; but Data felt connected to her and trusted her. He really looked as though he was out of options.

“Look, Data...you thought I was the right person to help bring Lal back in holographic form and just look how that turned out,” she offered as a poor excuse.

“That was not the same. Zoe is exceptional; what if I make the wrong decision in choosing another woman as the mother for my child?” he said with sadness.

“You won’t know until you try,” she told him.

“That is the thing...I only get one try,” he pressed with importance. “Zoe was simply unused to being so angry. Once she becomes more acclimatized to her stronger emotions she will do better at controlling her emotional responses. She is far too intelligent to misbehave on purpose.”

“She’s three years old,” Wesley huffed with frustration. “I know she’s quite intellectually advanced for her age, but it’s not fair to expect so much from her. She deserves to be a child.”

“Does she not deserve to have the chance to have a sibling?”

“Stop it. I won’t be pressured into changing my mind,” she said sternly.

“Why not? Did Lore not pressure you into having intercourse with him, resulting in your pregnancy?” Data countered quite coldly.

She wanted to slap him. A short time ago she would have let him off for being overly factual and not knowing any better, but that was no longer the case. She was getting sick of his new emotions making his act like an insensitive jerk towards her and making her feel bad. First it was her fault that he still felt an attraction for her and now he was bringing up her promiscuity after he swore up and down that he’d forgiven her.

“Fine Data,” she said harshly as she stood and crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. “Why don’t you go get that sample, stick it in you and then come back and screw my brains out.”

The android stared at her for a beat; his mouth open in shock. “You were being disingenuous.”

“Duh.”

“Why are you acting this way? I can certainly see where Zoe gets her lack of impulse control,” he added unkindly.

“Wow! You practically begged me to help you and when I say ‘no’ you turn around and attack me,” she complained, furious.

“I have not...” Data paused and reconsidered their conversation so far. Then he frowned at himself. “You are correct. I was being rude and inconsiderate.”

“Yes, you were,” she confirmed as she softened a little.

“I apologize. Sometimes you make me feel...”

She searched his face as he seemed to struggle to define what it was she did to him. She cringed when she thought he was going to say something sexual.

“Disappointed in myself,” he confessed.

“Oh, that’s not at all what I thought you were going to say.”

“When you and I were together I believed that we were happy and in love, but then I betrayed your trust and broke your heart,” he rambled with dismay. “I still do not completely understand why I did that.”

“Because you have impulse control problems just like the rest of us,” she informed him with a lighthearted chuckle, not really believing that he could.

“Are you insinuating that I was a better man when I was less human?” he asked her as his frown deepened.

“Data, you were always very human. You just got carried away. Grady said it best, I think, when he said that sometimes his emotions got the better of him and he would forget to stop and breathe.”

“That is exactly what it is like. I forget to think before I act, or speak...which is strange because I never forget to think,” Data added after some consideration.

Wesley laughed at his befuddled expression. “You’ll find the right person to help you. I know you will.”

“Then you have more confidence than I do on the matter,” he grumbled.

“Too bad Grady’s a man,” she teased as she bumped shoulders with him.

“That is not funny,” he shot back, still pained by the way he had treated the youth.

“I still don’t understand why things didn’t work out with him...or is that my fault too?” she questioned with concern.

“As I informed Geordi, I had misconstrued my emotional response to him. I came to realize that I only wished to pursue a physical relationship with him and was not in fact in love with him,” he explained, slightly ashamed of himself. “To continue to lead him on would have been detrimental to his wellbeing.”

It was Wesley’s turn to drop her jaw. “You mean you have a naughty, horny side to your personality now and it’s not actually my fault that you’re having all these perverse desires?”

Data frowned at her terminology. “I do not know that I would have phrased it in exactly that way,” he said as he took a step back from her. “However, I do appear to have discovered the ability for sexual attraction.”

“You dog,” she giggled as she playfully hit his arm.

“I prefer to think of myself as a man; although a very flawed man,” he countered as his frown depended at her reaction.

“Well...congratulations,” she added with a sly smile. “Maybe Riker can teach you all about casual consensual sex.”

The android made an even more pained face. “I do not believe that will be necessary.”

“Masterbation it is then,” she said without humour as she took her leave.

Data watched her walk away and then instinctively looked at his hands. He could feel his face go hot and he quickly moved onto to another task so he could keep his mind from wandering back to her absurd suggestion.

........

Wesley was happy to find Delia with her daughter when she returned from Engineering. All she wanted was to go to bed. She was tired all of the time since returning to her duties and she hadn’t been sleeping all that well.

When Beverly returned to her quarters she was much less happy to find Delia with Zoe.

“Where’s Wes?” she asked as she helped to tuck her granddaughter into bed.

“In her room. I think she just needed some alone time,” Delia told her with an understanding smile.

“Does she do that a lot because this is this first I’m hearing about it?” the doctor retorted unsympathetically. 

“Night, Gran,” Zoe cooed as she gave Beverly a hug.

“Good night Zoe, love,” she replied softly.

The two women went back into the main living area and Delia felt she should say something. “You know, I don’t really know Wes all that well yet, but it seems like she’s had a difficult time lately. I don’t think you should hold it against her if she needs to spend some time away from her daughter. Zoe doesn’t seem to mind.”

“How much more time away does she need? She was away for nearly five months; was that not enough time? Maybe she would rather not have the responsibility at all,” Beverly rebutted unkindly.

“Clearly this is none of my business,” said the other woman as she walked to the door. “But as a medical professional don’t you think you should be a little more sensitive to her mental state?”

Beverly was caught between her sensibilities as a mother—a mother who had also lost her husband and partner at a young age—and as a Doctor. She knew deep down that her daughter was not doing as well as she tried to appear, but a part of her felt as though she should suck it up.

“I’ll have a talk with her. I’m sure we’ll find some common ground,” the red haired woman offered as she bid her nurse goodbye.

Beverly entered her daughter’s darkened bedroom. Sure enough she was sleeping. The older woman had to admit that she did feel a little less angry seeing her daughter look so vulnerable. She decided to keep her concerns to herself for now.

It was much later and Zoe and Beverly were both asleep when Wesley finally came out of her room. She was beginning to regret lying down so early and wondered if she would manage to get back to sleep. 

After fixing herself something to eat from the replicator she thought she would send a request to Juliana. It was time that they had a serious discussion about things as soon as possible. She was a little worried about how much blame Juliana placed on her for what had happened. 

About five minutes after the message went out, a call came through.

“On screen, computer,” Wesley commanded with a yawn.

The image was quite fuzzy, but at least there was one this time. “Is everything alright? Is Zoe okay?” came Earl’s voice. He sounded a little rougher than usual as though maybe she’d woken him.

“Hey Earl, it’s Lee,” she greeted him, though it was still difficult to get a good look at him since his image was so out of focus and broke up from time to time. She was hoping he would make it quick after the week she’d been having.

“What’s wrong? It’s really late here...do you want me to wake Juliana?” he asked with rising distress. There was something else about the way he was pronouncing his words that sounded a little off to her, but she figured that maybe it was the bad connection.

“No, that message can wait until the morning, things just get so hectic here I didn’t want to forget to send it,” she explained and yawned again. She never meant for anyone to get it until the morning, but was a little impressed that he would care so much.

“Oh...alright,” he said a little calmer.

“Hey, Earl...I thought you didn’t live with Juliana,” she found herself saying. “Why are you there so late?”

“I guess I must have passed out on the couch,” he said bluntly and she could tell he was rubbing face with his hands.

“Long day, or too much to drink?” she pressed, thinking that maybe it was a slight slur she was picking up.

“A bit of both,” he confessed with a chuckle. “Pran hates it when I stay over.”

“Do you pass out on the couch often?” She wasn’t trying to judge him, but he was becoming a fixture in her daughter’s life and the idea that he might be a lush bothered her.

“No...” he said plainly with obvious hesitation. “Are you sure you’re okay, Lee?”

“Yeah, I’m just peachy...had me one of those long days,” she confided.

“Do you have someone there with you?” he asked after a moment. 

“Excuse me?” She wasn’t entirely sure why he would ask her such a personal question.

“I just know how hard it can be when you’re alone,” he elaborated. “You sound like you need someone.”

Wesley was a little taken aback. He was probably speaking in general terms; not that he would have been the first person to ever notice such thing about her. However, to hear it in his voice coupled with the scrambled image, she felt a little like it was Lore’s ghost making sure she was alright.

“I’m fine. My mom is here,” she managed to say as she got a little choked up.

“You’re sure?”

“Why? Are you going to jump on a transport and come here to comfort me?” she joked without thinking.

She could tell through the static and fuzz that he was staring at her. He seemed to have a sad look in his eyes. She wasn’t sure if it was pity for her circumstances, or if he had been hurt by her words.

“No...that would be ridiculous...and I’ve sworn off doing ridiculous things in the middle of the night,” he rebutted playfully. “At least after I’ve had a few if you know what I mean?”

That was enough to bring her back to reality and make her unsure of him again. So much for Data thinking the man was well adjusted. He was obvious a drunk, but at least he was a good-natured drunk.

“I should let you get back to sleep,” she said as kindly as possible.

“Sure thing,” he said slowly.

Then the transmission ended without so much as a proper goodbye. She was definitely not looking forward to discussing the man with Juliana.

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are just establishing chapters. I promise things will get more interesting soon :)


	4. Fathers and Mothers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some vignettes. Wesley asks Geordi a sensitive question; Deanna flirts with Will; and Beverly speaks her mind to Data.

Lt Comdr Geordi LaForge couldn’t complain about being gifted a new ship. Or at least he shouldn’t. There was just something about the newly commissioned USS Enterprise-E that wasn’t quite the same as his Enterprise.

He chuckled to himself that the two ships were as different as Data and Lore had been, but then he became unnerved to think of what ‘Lore-like’ surprises the new girl might have in store for him. He was deep in contemplation when a knock came at his open office door.

“Hey, Chief, you got a second?” asked Wesley with a wary look on her face.

“Uh, oh. You sound like you might need more than a second,” Geordi commented as he fixed her with a dubious look of his own.

Wesley laughed nervously as she came closer to the man. “No, I swear I’ll keep to my point.” However she did falter slightly. “Please don’t write me up for harassment, sir, but gosh darn you are a handsome man,” she gushed as she took in his new appearance again. “You were really hiding behind that VISOR.”

Geordi laughed quite loudly at her unguarded admission. “You have no idea how weird it is to hear you say that, Ensign.”

“Just think how much more awkward we both would feel right now if I was still a guy,” she added as a joke.

When the Chief Engineer finally regained his composure he sighed before addressing her again. “What’s up? Surely you didn’t come in here just to flatter me.”

“No, I was just checking to see if Data had filled you in on the latest in his quest to procreate.”

“Ah, right,” he said with a knowing air. “Yeah, he was pretty upset when you turned him down. It’s not as though he can just start taking interviews and all that. It’s a pretty sensitive thing to entrust someone with an experimental task such as the one he’s proposing.”

“Did he ask you and Robin yet?”

“He seems pretty set in doing this ASAP,” the man explained. “Robin is not ready to be in a family way again so soon, if you know what I mean?”

She knew exactly what he meant because she felt the same way and it had been three years for her. Robin’s little suggestion that she could have been pregnant already was scary enough, even if every time she held Jayden she yearned to recapture that new mom feeling.

“So now he’s going to be disappointed for weeks until he finds someone,” she lamented.

“Or he won’t find anyone and he’ll just have to live with it,” Geordi rebutted in a matter of fact manner. 

“You think I should do it, don’t you?” she winced.

“Hey. Your body, your choice. You do what you feel comfortable with,” he said in all honesty.

“Maybe you could do it. We could call up Q and have him fix you up,” she suggested only half joking.

“That’s not remotely funny. Not that I wouldn’t do it if I could, but involving Q, even in the hypothetical, is not my idea of a good time.”

“Aw, Geordi you softy,” she said sincerely as she made herself refrain from hugging him. “Maybe you can share Jayden with Data. I’m already sharing Zoe. Can we count two half kids as one whole kid?”

“I don’t think kids work like that,” he said with an awkward chuckle. “But I might consider getting Data to help more often. Robin’s already itching to get back to her duties.”

“Seriously? That seems fast.”

“Yeah well turns out she isn’t so keen on newborns as she thought she was going to be.”

“I loved being with Zoe,” Wesley admitted without hesitation. “I can help out too if you need me to.”

“Still sure about helping Data?” Geordi asked one last time seeing how much she might actually want to a mother again.

“Ugh, no...now I feel like the bad guy,” she whined.

“Gosh...you know you shouldn’t. I tried to tell Data how fortunate he was. In another reality you would have run off with his brother and possibly had two kids together and he would have never had any.”

“Because that makes me feel better,” she groaned as she only felt worse. He was the second one of her friends to insinuate that she should go ahead as though she was always meant to be this unborn child’s mother.

“Wes, don’t do this because you feel guilty, or responsible. Only do it if you want another child to care for and raise.”

“I know Zoe loves Data...hell everyone loves Data...but sometimes he is just so insensitive to my feelings,” she confided in hushed tones.

“You know why he’s like that, right?”

“Yeah, because we treated each other like garbage,” she said with unguarded self-deprecation.

“Okay...maybe. I wasn’t there,” he replied unsure. “But I truly believe that he’s still in love with you. He just doesn’t know what to do about it.”

“Great...that’s just great. And if I have a kid with him I have to face the fact that maybe I’m still in love with him.”

“Is that such a bad thing?” Geordi gave her an odd look. He was fairly certain that Lore had treated her much worse than Data ever had, but he really didn’t want to get involve, or to start a fight with the woman.

“Only if we keep treating each other badly,” Wesley huffed. Then she seemed to get a little too focused on her Chief. “Hey Geordi, did you and Data ever ‘you know’?”

“‘You know’ what?”

“Exactly,” she hummed. 

“What?” he repeated and then her meaning finally sunk in. “No. God no!” he blurted quite forcefully.

“Why not?” she asked as she crossed her arms casually in front of her chest and continued to study him and how anxious he looked.

“None of your damned business,” he said quickly as he lowered his voice and gave a suspicious glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

“Hmmm. It’s probably because Data didn’t have emotions and by the time he did you were already committed to Robin,” she muttered, mostly to herself.

“Excuse me? Just because Data has emotions now and happens not to have any preference when it comes to gender, doesn’t mean that I’ve considered an attraction to him,” Geordi rambled in response.

“Who’s taking attraction?” she rebutted. “He’s your oldest and closest friend. It would be perfect if the two of you settled down and raised a bunch of human and hybrid children together. Besides, I didn’t like men either—but Data is Data.”

Geordi knew she was right. It wasn’t as though the android was comparable with anyone else he’d ever known. It just wasn’t something he liked to think about. They were like brothers, not lovers. At least that’s where they stood on things the last time it came up.

“I thought Robin was your best friend?” Geordi added as though to deflect from what she was saying.

“Yeah, but that bitch dumped me for another man,” she said with a shrug. “Besides, it’s obviously never going to happen. You would never up and leave Robin.”

“No I wouldn’t,” he replied with a frown, secretly hoping that Robin wouldn’t up and leave him. “It will work out, somehow,” he added instead of arguing further.

She gave him a laboured smile before giving him a supportive pat on the shoulder. “Good talk,” she said, though neither of them felt any better about anything.

........

Deanna Troi made her way through the smoky, dimly lit night club. She recognized the trombone right away. There was something comforting in the predictability of Will Riker’s choice in holo-programs. She always did find it strange how he gravitated towards the early to mid twentieth century jazz clubs. Even though the smoke was just a projection it still made her want to cough.

She’d made an effort just for him and put her long curly locks up in a twist, leaving a few tendrils to frame her face. Her dress was red satin and she wore lipstick to match. As she took a seat right up front she caught his eye. He continued to finish out the song, but his eyes lingered now and then, which made her smile. All these years and he could still manage to make her blush as though it was the first time they were meeting.

When the set ended, Will made his way down from the stage. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before pulling up a chair and—in true Riker fashion—flipped it backwards before straddling the seat. She laughed as he settled in and took it upon himself to order them a couple of drinks.

“You look very beautiful this evening,” he purred in appreciation of her low-cut dress.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she offered flirtatiously in response. She always was a sucker for a well tailored suit, though his jacket was long abandoned he still wore a fancy aubergine embroidered vest.

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but did I know you were coming?” Will asked with mild confusion.

“No. I thought I would surprise you,” she mused as she touched his arm affectionately. “Why? Are you expecting company?” Deanna hadn’t considered that the man could be on a date. Usually he didn’t bother if he was planning to perform, not wanting to be pressured to ensure that his date was having a good time.

“No, not at all,” he told her with a broad smile as he picked up what he hoped was a hint of jealousy. “Sometimes I just like to go all out just for me. Besides I was eager to see if these new holodecks were up to snuff.”

“And what’s the consensus?”

“The realism of it is superb,” he beamed. Then he reached over and took one of her well manicured hands. “So, what should we get up to?”

She smiled and blushed again at his overtly sexual undertones. She almost snatched her hand away, but decided not to. She thought she would indulge herself as well and do something just for her; which right now included indulging him.

“I’m not sure what you had in mind,” Deanna said suggestively. “I know I’m in desperate need of a distraction.”

Will made a pained face in sympathy. “Is Data still driving you up the wall about wanting to...what does he keep calling it? Procreate?”

She chuckled at his obvious discomfort. “Yes. I really do feel bad for him.”

“Not bad enough to lend him your services as the mother of that child I hope,” he grumbled with a disapproving air.

“Don’t worry, Will. It hasn’t come to that yet,” she assured him.

“Good. I mean, I stand behind the guy and hope he finds a solution; but Data’s not the man I ever pictured would convince you to embrace motherhood.”

“Oh no? Who did you picture?” she wondered as she gave him a coy look. She could have sworn that he was blushing now.

“Come on, don’t make me say it, Imzadi,” he said softly as he held her gaze.

“Why Will Riker, you never cease to amaze me,” she teased. She tried to play it off as though he was being ridiculous, but on the inside she was melting.

“So, is that why you’re here...looking the way you do?” he teased back seductively.

“What, this old thing?” she rebutted sarcastically. “No Will. I’m not here to seduce you.”

“Pity,” he said simply with another pained expression. 

Then the band began to play again and couples were getting up and dancing. Will stood, but instead of turning to go to the stage he offered her his hand.

“Care to dance,” he asked smooth as silk.

Deanna didn’t bother with words. Instead she accepted his invitation with look and a smile. As he spun her slowly around the dance floor she couldn’t help but feel perfectly content in his embrace. Their relationship had always been in the back of her mind, even when she’d been involved with other men. Now she couldn’t help but wonder if it had always been on his mind as well.

.....

The Enterprise hummed a soothing, calming rhythm. Wesley was reclining in a Jeffries tube as she recalibrated an energy relay. She decided that she’d been wrong about this ship being larger as she now believed that these access tubes must in fact be smaller. Her shoulder was aching and she had a pain in her side and a cramp in her calf as she tried to get close enough to the tiny opening to make her adjustments.

Then the computer chirped and alerted her to an incoming message. The ensign rolled her eyes in annoyance that Juliana would pick this exact moment to try to reach her. So instead of missing her chance, Wesley rolled over and crawled her way back out of the tube. Within five minutes she was sitting at a workstation in Engineering and had the computer put the call through.

“There you are, Lee. I was beginning to get worried,” Juliana said with an usually cranky attitude that made her sound more putout than concerned for her wellbeing.

“Hi, Juliana. Thank you for waiting. I was a little busy, but I really wanted to talk to you,” Wesley told her with an awkward smile. She couldn’t help but notice how clear the image was and wondered if maybe someone was lying about how bad the connection so often was.

“Of course, dear. What is it? Are you having any trouble with Zoe?” the silver-haired woman asked as she softened a little.

“A little. It appears that she may believe her father is still alive and pretending to be someone else,” she explained in hushed tones so that her fellow officers didn’t hear her.

“Oh, my. That is a problem. I suppose death is a hard concept to understand at her age, even if she is highly intelligent.”

“Well...to be honest we haven’t really explained that he’s dead...just that he’s gone and never coming back,” she confessed, her cheeks hot with embarrassment.

“And now Zoe has created a fantasy that her papa will come back, but as someone else?” Juliana questioned thoughtfully.

“Something like that.”

“She doesn’t believe that Data is her father, does she?”

“I wish she did...that would be so much simpler. It would seem that her attachment to Earl is quite serious,” Wesley informed her.

“Earl?” Juliana echoed. Then the woman looked away, her expression riddled with guilt. “Lee...I had no idea. If I ever believed that Zoe would make such a leap I never would have encouraged their friendship.”

“But he isn’t, right? Earl is just a man?” she asked to clarify.

Juliana looked hurt that she could suggest such a cruel act of deception. “Believe me when I tell you that if Lore was still alive and well you would be the first person I would inform.”

“I’m sorry. I know you would,” she added with remorse. “It’s just...what happened to Earl to make him reach out to you all of a sudden? How would he even have known that you’d been married to Dr. Soong?”

“It was a surprise to me as well when he found me. Apparently there was an accident and he lost everything. It was a tragedy really,” the older woman said vaguely. “He had no other family to speak of and somehow he tracked me down.”

Wesley sighed to herself. First she was ripped away from Omicron Theta and never got to say goodbye to Dr. Soong; and then she lost Lore. Now the Enterprise-D was destroyed and her relationship with Data was a mess. She knew all too well what it felt like to lose everything. It seemed to her that this poor man should be allowed some leniency if he was suffering as she was.

“Well, in that case I’m glad that he found you. He sounded quite found of you,” she noted with a kind smile.

“You don’t mean to say that you’ve spoken to him, yourself?” Juliana asked with something akin to fear.

“Why are you so bothered? I thought everyone liked him?” she rebutted with concern.

“They do...it’s just...”

“Juliana, what is it? What aren’t you telling me?” the younger woman demanded.

“He’s a good man, but he has his troubles. Nothing terrible. I just didn’t think he would be ready to speak to you yet.”

“Why not? He’s made friends with everyone else I know,” she quipped.

“Never mind. Maybe I’m being overly protective,” Juliana added before the other woman could press on.

Wesley wasn’t sure what Juliana meant. Protective of Earl, or protective of her. She had to wonder why would Juliana not mind the man speaking to Zoe, but become bothered when she—the girl’s mother—spoke to him?

“Juliana, I might need you to help explain to Zoe that Earl is not her father,” Wesley told her, not wanting to forget her original intention for this conversation.

“If it becomes necessary I will do my best to help,” she said firmly. “Since we’re speaking, I should let you know that something has come up and I won’t be able to make it for Zoe’s birthday. I hope she’ll understand.”

“I’m sure she’ll manage. Maybe you can have a visit over the comm instead.”

“Yes, I would like that very much,” Juliana conceded with a genuine smile. “Now I really must go, but it was good to see you again.”

“Same here,” she said with a laugh. “Take care of yourself.”

Something was still not quite sitting right about their exchange and how Juliana was acting. She supposed that maybe the woman was still unsure of how to feel about her now. She knew that she was a little unsure herself.

......

It was just a few days before Zoe’s third birthday and Data hadn’t spoken much to any of the Crusher women since Wesley’s refusal to help him.

Beverly just finished a command shift on the Bridge and when Data came to relieve her she took his arm and led him into the captain’s ready room.

“Are we even allowed to be in here when Captain Picard is not?” asked the android with concern.

“Don’t worry about it,” she told him dismissively as she gently shoved him to sit down on the small sofa. “You need to stop sulking,” she added as she sat a little too closely beside him.

Data gave her an odd look and tried to inch away, but found that there was no where left to go. “Sulking? I was not aware that I was,” he retorted with raised brows.

“Let me give you some sage advice. Stop chasing after something you may never have and start embracing the important things you already do have,” she ranted as she continued to ignore his personal space.

“What are you talking about, Doctor?”

“Stop trying to force Wes into some contrived relationship where the two of you make another baby and just work on your existing relationship and enjoy the child you already have.”

“Zoe is not my child,” he quietly reminded her.

“Sure she is! When Wes was gone you were there for her. When I couldn’t be there...you were. When she’s sad, you do everything you can to make her happy. And when she acts out, you never hesitate to correct her.”

“But now Wesley is home and she does all of those things,” he noted, unsure why she was being so persistent.

“Data...are you in love with my daughter?” Beverly huffed.

“Of course not,” he replied with indifference. “Nor is she in love with me.”

“Oh..then this procreation thing isn’t just a ploy to get her to love you again?” the doctor questioned not entirely convinced that it wasn’t.

“No. I assure you that I only wish to do what is best for my future child.” He knew that wasn’t the whole truth, but what good would it do him to pine over a love he could never get back. He secretly feared that all of his relationships would come to a natural end if he didn’t assert himself somehow. He barely saw Geordi anymore unless they were on duty together now that he was father.

“So, if Wesley started dating someone you wouldn’t mind?” Beverly offered to test him.

The android narrowed his eyes and tried to discern if she was speaking in hypothetical, or if the woman’s daughter was in fact dating. “Why? Has she confided an interest in someone?”

“No, although Deanna did mention something about Wes’ strange reaction to Earl.”

“Earl?” Data repeated with a snort of derision. “He would never do.”

“Oh yeah?” Beverly mused.

“He is basic and far too boring. Besides, he is too old for her,” Data said sharply.

“But he’s human and has suffered from loss,” she rebutted. “Wait? Too old? How old is he? I can never get a good look at him.”

Data hesitated and stood so that he could finally put some distance between them. “What sort of reaction did Deanna say Wes had?” he inquired, trying to seem less interested than he was.

“Maybe it isn’t my place to say,” she told him as she became unnervingly quiet.

“Do you believe I could still win her over?” Data dared to ask as he perched in the desk.

Beverly gave him a sad look. “Maybe, but you need to be sensitive and you can’t push her around. I’m afraid that she’s still mourning your damned brother.”

The android couldn’t quite understand why she would still be in mourning, or why his brother had been so enticing to the woman. He was fairly certain that Lore had done nothing but push her around. Data knew he wasn’t like Lore and should never be expected to be like him, but sometimes all he wanted to do was take control and show Wesley how he really felt about her.

“I will do my best to stop sulking,” he told the doctor.

“Good,” she told him as she stood. “No one finds a sulky man attractive.”

........


	5. The Birthday Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected guest shows up to Zoe’s birthday party. Is Data lying about who he is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry. I seem to make these stories so involved. Maybe my next one will be simpler.

Zoe was dressed in a little blue dress. She was helping her three little friends with their party hats and giggling away. Robin was sitting with Jayden strapped to her front. The infant looked as excited as he could at his age, but he probably had no concept of what was going on. Geordi was close at hand and only left his girlfriend’s side to fetch her refreshments and dance with a couple of the children.

Data was doing his best to record the whole thing for prosperity since he couldn’t remember the little girl’s first two birthdays. Not that they were anything close to this busy, or festive. Wesley made a mental note that next year they would have Zoe’s birthday party in one of the lounges. She was already dreading the clean up after everyone had gone.

Delia came through the main door—it was left unlocked of course—she seemed to quickly dart back to one of the bedrooms for some reason. Fido made a break for it when the next person came into the party. Delia realized too late that she had accidentally let the kitten out of the bedroom and now he was loose in the corridor.

Wesley could tell how upset Delia was and insisted that she would go look for the cat herself. So she let her mother know that she had to leave for a few minutes in order to retrieve the kitten. Beverly was busy welcoming Alyssa and her son, Noah, and only half acknowledged her daughter.

Wesley wandered the hallway for a few minutes and wondered how far the little cat could have gotten. It wasn’t as though there were many places he could hide. She was bending down and looking under a chair in one of the alcoves when someone came to stand beside her.

“Are you looking for a cat?” the person asked in a whisper as he bent down closer to her.

Wesley turned towards the voice and came nose to nose with a man who was the spitting image of Data—if he were human. She stood abruptly and knocked the back of her head on the seat of the chair.

“Ouch, that looked like it hurt,” he winced as he offered her a hand for support. He seemed to become concerned that she would lose her balance.

Instead of replying she just stared blankly at the man who had Dr. Soong’s soulful blue eyes. She was suddenly back to three and half years ago...standing in Lore’s bedroom after he had hidden her under his desk. She’d hit her head then too and he had said the exact same thing; though at the time only one of his eyes had been the same hue of blue.

“Are you alright?” He asked when she continued not to respond.

Wesley blinked and noticed the black cat being held firmly against the man’s chest.

“That’s my cat,” she blurted as she pointed to the black fluff ball.

“Oh good, you can speak,” he said with a nervous chuckle.

“Who are you?” she inquired, her mouth suddenly very dry.

“I’m Earl,” he said with another laugh. “This is what I look like when I’m not scrambled.”

“Holy fuck...Juliana’s Earl?” she cursed with unguarded surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Your mother invited me,” he said quickly in his own defence.

“Invited you?” she retorted with obvious confusion.

“You’re Lee, right?” he asked her, though it was obvious that the question was unnecessary. “Beverly invited me to Zoe’s party. She said the little one would be heartbroken if I didn’t come,” he explained with confusion of his own.

“I’m sorry, Earl,” she shot back curtly. She really hated his name for some reason. Hearing it was bad enough, but saying it was worse. “But my mother had no right to invite you.”

The man looked crestfallen as he gently handed her back her kitten. “Oh...then I shouldn’t go back to the party?”

She was already walking away from him. He was just too much for her to handle. “I don’t know,” she shot over her shoulder rudely.

“I promise to behave myself,” he said adamantly as he continued to follow behind her.

“Are all Soongs this self-assured?” she grumbled as they arrive in front of her door.

“Oh, I wouldn’t know. I haven’t met many,” he confided, unconvinced that he was as self-assured as she thought. “Though I suppose that technically I’m a ‘Hahn’ not a ‘Soong’,” he said as he casually corrected her.

“You’re a what?” she said slowly as she searched his blue-grey eyes. She recognized the name right away and it sent a chill up her spine.

“Hahn. You know, my name. It’s actually Erol Soong Hahn,” he told her plainly.

“Erol,” she repeated quietly as she lost herself for a moment.

“Yeah, Zoe started calling me Earl and it just stuck I guess,” he said as he watched her face flush. Wesley was all too familiar with nicknames that stuck whether they were encouraged or not.

The door slid open and Data looked surprised to see them standing there together, but then the feline stole his focus. 

“Do not worry, Zoe. Your mother has found your kitten,” he called back into the noisy room as he took Fido from Wesley.

“Is everything alright?” the android asked a little unsure.

“Data, this is Erol,” Wesley said almost inaudible, still in shock.

“Yes, I know. We have met,” Data told her as though it wasn’t anything important.

“‘Erol’, Data,” she said again as she met his gaze.

“Yes he has been staying at Juliana’s cottage,” Data informed her, unsure why she was behaving so strangely.

“Doesn’t he remind you of someone?” she asked a little harshly.

“She hit her head. Maybe you should keep an eye on her,” advised Earl as took the woman’s distraction as an opportunity to slip past them both and enter the party.

Once they were alone in the corridor, Wesley pinched Data’s arm.

“Why did you that?” he inquired sharply as he looked down at where she’d made contact. It didn’t hurt, but she definitely had his attention.

“Data, ‘Erol’ is the dumb name my mother came up with—for Lore,” she said emphatically.

“Oh...that is a strange coincidence,” he mused.

“Is it? Is it strange?” she shot back and hit him again, causing the kitten to meow with distress.

“You are frightening Fido,” Data told her with a frown.

“Yeah, well you’re frightening me! I go away for a few months and everyone just starts talking to this man who just happens to be my dead husband!?”

“Earl is not Lore, Wesley,” the android told her quite firmly.

“Come with me,” she commanded as she took his free hand and led him back into her quarters. Instead of stopping in the main area and rejoining the festivities she continued onto her bedroom. With the door closed she had the android drop the cat and wait for her. 

“What are we doing in your bedroom?” he questioned suspiciously as though she was about to suggest something they would regret.

“It’s in here somewhere,” she muttered as she started to root through her old escape bag. She knew she had packed a copy of the false medical records that her mother had created for them. They were on a small memory card. 

With a final bout of frustration, she dumped the contents of the bag on her bed. Data came to stand next to her and gave her a curious look. “What are you looking for?”

“A memory card...it had something on it that will prove that I know what I’m talking about,” she explained as she dug through the pile to no avail. “Did you take it?”

“I have not opened your bag since it was left in my care,” he assured her. “Hence my surprise to discover that you had a cryo-canister hidden in it.”

“Don’t try to gaslight me, android. I have an eidetic memory,” she said as she turned on him. She also realized that her tuning instrument was missing and she was sure that had once been in the bag as well.

“I do not know to what you are referring. I would not lie to you, nor keep pertinent information a secret.”

“Erol Hahn...he has to be Lore,” she huffed as she sat on the bed. She felt nauseous and wasn’t sure if it from the emotional upheaval, or the knock to her head, or both.

Data sat next to her and put an arm around her, feeling it was appropriate to comfort her. “Lore is gone. We could not salvage him. Perhaps your mother was mistaken and borrowed the identity of someone still living who would be passable as my brother’s double. Perhaps you should ask her.”

Wesley let out a long calming breath. She knew he could be right. After all, why would they hide him from her? Although, she couldn’t argue with the fact that Lore’s favourite game was to hide in plain sight. The only thing holding her back from confronting him in front of everyone was the fact that he had looked calm and collected when they met. If he had been Lore and found her alone in an empty hallway she was sure that he would slammed her against a wall and done something altogether inappropriate.

She let herself lean on Data’s shoulder for a moment as she longed for simpler times. Then she placed a hand on the bump on the back of head and gave him a weak smile. They sat a moment longer in silence and Data found himself having inappropriate thoughts of his own. He knew that now was not the time to bring them up. Wesley was already emotional and there was a room full of their friends just on the other side of the door. Then they both made their way back to the party.

Data passed his recording duties to Geordi for a time so that he could help Zoe blow out the candles on her brightly coloured cake. Once everyone had a piece, Zoe tried to give Data one as well. Wesley smiled at the pair as she fondly remembered baking a cake with him once and Juliana insisting he try some since he had made it. He was not that impressed since he was incapable of enjoying the taste beyond the analysis of its ingredients.

“How is it?” teased Beverly as she watched the android’s face.

“There is all together too much sucrose in it,” Data replied quite frankly.

“Hmmm, I bet if you had that emotions chip you wouldn’t be complaining about the sugar; you’d be loving it,” Geordi countered with a goodnatured laugh.

“I don’t understand?” Wesley asked as she inserted herself into their banter. She made sure to keep a watchful eye on her uninvited guest. She couldn’t help the feeling that he was just as intently keeping his eye on her as well.

“Dr. Soong said that the chip would not only give me human emotions, but human senses to help create an overall experience. In theory I would have had more comprehensive tastebuds,” Data explained.

“But you have no intention of installing that chip just so you can enjoy a slice of cake, right?” she inquired with a dubious air.

“No. Besides it has been destroyed. I became convinced that it was too damaged to be repaired; besides which I saw what it did to Lore,” he confided as his eyes strayed to Earl for a moment. “Even though it was meant for myself and not him, I would be foolish not to be wary of something that altered his state of mind so completely.”

Wesley caught the way the android was regarding the man who looked so much like his creator. His face didn’t seem to convey the same easy going attitude he’d had earlier. In fact, he looked quite disturbed.

She followed his gaze and noted how nervous Earl looked as he chatted with Delia by the piano. Her hair was an elaborate braid and some of it had fallen loose around her face. Earl looked as though he wanted to reach out and tuck it back behind her ear, but was too self-conscious to make such a bold move. Then he must have felt Wesley looking at him because their eyes met for a moment while Delia continued speaking. The man only broke eye contact when he realized he had stopped paying attention to what the green skinned woman was saying. 

Wesley smiled shyly, a little embarrassed that she’d distracted him and caused him to feel even more uncomfortable. She suddenly became self-conscious and wondered if Data had been watching her watch her guests. She was surprised to find him preoccupied with his cake, oblivious to her actions.

“Well, I suppose you don’t need that chip anyhow since you have your own emotions...maybe one day your senses will evolve too,” Beverly mused.

Data paused mid-swallow as he was reminded of Wesley heightening his tactile sensors and the heightened sense of pleasure she’d created. It made him blush slightly and turn away. Luckily no one seemed to notice his bashful expression.

Wesley giggled at how happy her mother was. Then she caught the older woman beaming at their captain as he bent down to give the birthday girl a kiss on the cheek. 

“What did you wish for, Zoe?” Picard asked with a big smile.

“I can’t say it. The wish won’t come true if I say it,” the little girl said with authority.

“But I’m your captain. You can tell me,” he rebutted playfully.

“No...it’s a secret,” she whispered.

The ensign’s heart melted and she finally understood why she still had her commission. Her captain was most defiantly involved with her mother somehow, after all of these years, and in turn he had fallen for the woman’s granddaughter. Wesley knew about the recent tragedy the man had suffered when he lost his brother and nephew in a fire. It made her so happy to see him finding joy with her family.

When Picard was done with his little game, Zoe ran over to Deanna who had joined Delia and Earl. The little girl was showing off a puzzle toy she’d gotten from Data. Deanna gave the girl a hug before she wandered away to stand with Will. The two looked quite cozy.

Delia continued to look quite interested and lingered to watch the two play together. Earl and Zoe looked as though they had known each other for years and although Zoe was too heavy now for most of her friends to lift, Earl didn’t seem to have any difficultly as he swung her in the air before bringing her to sit with him on the piano bench. 

He playfully bounced her on his knee as they tried to solve the puzzle. Wesley didn’t mind that they were interacting, but knew that her daughter would quickly become too much weight for the man to keep on his one leg. It was suspicious to her that he never once tried to shift her position.

After another half hour or so guests started to say their goodbyes. Only Captain Picard and Data lingered in the room. Wesley had all but forgotten about the strange man with familiar face and wasn’t sure that she’d seen him leave.

“Mom, have you seen Earl?” she asked in hushed tones.

“No, not for a few minutes; but he was still here a moment ago,” Beverly told her daughter. 

“You do realize that his actual name is Erol Hahn,” she informed her mother sharply.

“Hahn? Isn’t that the name of Deanna’s mother’s butler?” 

“No, Mom...that’s Mr. Homn,” Wesley correctly her.

“Oh...so what about Erol Hahn? Is that name supposed to mean something?” Beverly responded innocently.

“That’s the name you used when you created our fake medical records,” Wesley elaborated secretively.

“Whose fake records?” the older woman rebutted unsure she was following.

“Well, Lore’s specifically...you flipped his name and told me something about an actor named Errol Flynn,” she explained.

“Oh right. I’m surprised you even remember that I did that,” the doctor said as though she finally understood. “Turns out your mother’s not that clever,” she confided with a shrug. “He was a real person. It was more identity theft than brilliant espionage. What did you expect, I was on a time limit?”

Wesley shook her head at her mother and laughed. Now that story she could believe. She went into her bedroom to see if she could find the missing guest. She just prayed that she didn’t find him canoodling with Delia. When he wasn’t there she ducked into Zoe’s room. 

Earl was alone, standing with his back to the door. She felt a little relieved, but also a little skeptical about him being in her daughter’s room by himself.

“Hey, Earl. You know you’re not helping my opinion of you by lurking in my child’s bedroom,” she mocked; his name leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

The man didn’t respond right away. As she took a step towards him he suddenly turned around and smiled softly at her.

“I think I just needed a minute. That was more people than I’m used to. I swear I wasn’t being weird,” he told her with sincerity.

“Well, they’re mostly gone now,” she informed him a little kinder than she had been before. “Do you have assigned guest quarters, or will you be crashing on my couch?” she teased.

He laughed, but looked a little unsure as to whether or not she was joking. “I have assigned quarters.”

“Good,” she said with a genuine grin. 

He came to stand near her as though to follow her out of the room, but her feet didn’t move as she got lost in his eyes again. She wondered if those Soong eyes were the reason Juliana fell for her husband in the first place. She had no qualms about the yellow-gold of the androids’ eyes, but there was something unique about his blue irises that really pulled her in. 

She laughed nervously as she realized she was staring. If Earl noticed, he didn’t say anything. They both came out of the little girl’s room just in time for Data to take Zoe in for a well-earned nap.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” Earl asked her discretely after watching the android carry the little.

“Um...sure,” she conceded as she looked to see if her mother was paying attention. Beverly was too busy having a private conversation of her own with Jean-Luc.

“Are you and Data together? I only ask because of how you are with one another and with Zoe,” he said with furrowed brows.

“No. We’re just friends...well family, really; but platonic family,” she rambled hoping that she made sense.

“Good to know,” he said with an almost shy air.

It was then that she considered his question to mean more than she thought it had. “I’m not interested in dating. I mean, my life-partner just passed away not that long ago. He was the love of my life,” she added as though it was important to draw the line with him.

“Sure...I didn’t mean to imply anything,” he said with a dismissive tone. “I was just curious.”

Then he started to pick up paper plates and gather them to the recycling receptacle.

“Oh, no Earl—you’re a guest. You don’t have to help clean up,” she insisted.

“It would be my pleasure,” he told her with a wink. “I can’t leave all of this for you. It’s your day too.”

She paused as she thought about what he said. It was her day too, she supposed. She was the one who had gone through all the drama.

“Thank you, that’s really kind,” she said with affection. He gave her another strangely shy smile and continued to make his way around the space.

Beverly caught on that it was time to help clean up and she wanted to help as well. It had been a busy afternoon and the more hands on deck meant the sooner they could relax.

......


	6. Not in Kansas Anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drinks and flirtations. Geordi says something he shouldn’t.

After indulging in a well earned nap, Wesley went to meet Robin in Ten Forward for a proper drink and a chat. She arrived in the lounge only to be told that her friend had to cancel last minute. Geordi was called to Engineering and she didn’t want to bring Jayden to the lounge. So Wesley was going to finish the drink she’d already ordered and go hang with her friend in her quarters instead.

“How have you been, Wes?” Guinan asked with a warm smile.

“Alright, I guess,” she replied after a moment of consideration. “I think I’m very lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to with it. You’ve found your way into one the best and most trusted families you could ever hope to have,” Guinan explained with a sparkle in her eye.

“Yes, I have. And to think I almost gave all of this up,” she said with self-deprecation. “What an idiot I used to be.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“Hmmm....I don’t know. I think I misunderstood that finding oneself doesn’t always require a grand adventure. The truth is that a person can find happiness right in their own backyard,” she mused philosophically.

“That’s from the ‘Wizard if Oz’, isn’t it?” came a familiar voice from further down the bar.

“Good lord, he’s everywhere,” Wesley commented quietly to the Bartender.

“Who, Earl?” Guinan asked, though she already knew that was exactly who the young woman meant. “I think you might be right about that,” she said as she gave the man a small polite wave.

“It’s not just me...you see it too, right?” Wesley questioned as she gestured to her face to indicate the man’s resemblance to her dead husband.

“Yeah, Wes. But he’s a nice guy. Try not weigh him down with your baggage,” she countered sagely.

“Oh yeah?” she questioned as watched the man nurse his beverage and remember how he had slurred during one of their conversations. “How many of those drinks has that nice guy had since he sat down?”

“It’s not my place to tell you that...but no more than three,” Guinan told her before walking away.

“It’s synth-ail, if you were wondering,” he said glumly as though he had been a part of their conversation the entire time. Then he got up and moved to the seat next to her. 

“It’s really none of my business,” she told him as she refused to make eye contact. She found it difficult to be confronted with this less desirable side of him after they had gotten along so well earlier.

“Sure. You don’t sound judgemental at all,” he rebutted sardonically. Everyone seemed so welcoming at first, but now he was starting to have doubts about why he’d thought it was a good idea to make the journey in the first place. Even Data seemed to be giving him the cold shoulder.

“Look, I honestly don’t care how you spend your time, just make sure that you’re sober and functional when you’re around my daughter,” she quipped a little coldly. 

Before Earl could try to change her mind about him a very brash male officer leaned on the bar between them, blocking him off. 

“This guy bothering you?” the officer asked with overt interest in the young woman. He had a British accent that was hard to miss.

Wesley gave the stranger a quick glance and thought his fair hair and hazel eyes made him quite attractive, but she didn’t care for his predatory posturing.

“No. He’s not,” she said flatly, hoping he would go away.

The man looked over his shoulder as though to size up his competition. He must have thought he didn’t have any because he moved to sit in the vacant seat on her other side.

“I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Lieutenant Charlie Grayson,” he said without invitation.

Earl rolled his eyes and took another swig of his drink.

“Ensign Wesley Crusher,” she offered as she continued to stare at the bar.

“Oh really? You’re not related to Doctor Crusher are you?” Grayson countered with interest.

“Sure, I’m her daughter,” she told him, unimpressed.

“I can see the resemblance now. You have her alabaster skin and heart shaped face. Has anyone ever told you how lovely you are?” the man flirted.

Wesley’s face went bright red, but it was more from embarrassment than his flattery. Hearing the man compliment her in his posh accent made her feel less than deserving.

Earl took notice of her discomfort and felt compelled to make her feel better. “Hey, Lee?” He whispered dramatically from beside her. “Is this guy bothering you?”

Wesley let out a bark of laughter at his playful mockery of the other man. She couldn’t help herself as she turned towards the man with the eerily familiar face and mouthed the words ‘help me’ to him.

“Back off friend. She doesn’t want to talk to you,” said a very stern Grayson.

“Oh are we friends, Chuck?” Earl inquired with a touch of hurt as he stood and swaggered over to stand closer to the offensive lieutenant, his drink in his hand. “You can understand my confusion since you went out of your way to introduce yourself to the lady, but didn’t offer me the same curtesy.”

“Look, don’t be an ass. You’re clearly inebriated,” Grayson told him as he stood as well, ready to defend the woman’s honour.

“What? No I’m not,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Did you hear him, Lee? He thinks I’m drunk,” said Earl before spilling the remnants of his beverage down the front of the other man’s shirt. Wesley wasn’t sure if the act was accidental, or on purpose. However it was clear that Grayson was not impressed.

“Oh, Earl. I think Lt. Grayson might be right,” she scolded as she made a quick move to save him this time. “We’d better get you back to your quarters.” She made a show of pulling Earl’s arm around her to support him before she led him out of the lounge.

“I hope you have a pleasant night,” Earl called back with a playful wave. 

Grayson made a face as the pair walked away. He had never been turned down by a woman in favour of such a mess of a man before.

As they walked down the corridor Earl stumbled a little as he pulled away from her. 

“Maybe you actually do need me to support you,” Wesley commented as she continued to watch him make an effort to walk in a straight line.

“Trust me, I’m better off without your help,” Earl told her flatly.

She tried not get offended, but it was rather odd to her that they had once again been having a good time only to have him ruin it again.

As they arrived back at his guest quarters he opened the door and leaned on the door frame.

“Care to come in and keep me company?” he flirted with a grin.

Wesley couldn’t help but take a step back. She hadn’t been expecting the man be so blatantly forward.

“I just wanted to make sure you made it back alright,” she told him plainly. “I’m actual meant to meet a friend.”

The man frowned and stepped inside the small accommodation. He gave her a sideways glance before flopping down on the bed.

“I think I make a better impression on people when I’m light years away from them,” he commented a little disheartened.

“Maybe you just need to learn to relax,” she offered as she found herself following him inside and letting the door close behind her.

“I thought I was...relaxed. Maybe what I really need is to stiffen up,” he said without thinking. Then when the dark-haired woman crinkled her nose in disgust he realized what he’d just said and how offensive it sounded. “I mean, become more rigid...damn it.”

Wesley couldn’t help but laugh at his discomfort. “I think what you mean to say is be more self-aware.”

“Oh, I would love to be less self-aware,” he told her quite frankly.

“Are you always this awkward?” she asked as she casually leaned on the small desk by the wall.

“Only around beautiful woman,” he told her without hesitation. “And that’s not a line; it’s a fact.”

“Sure,” she chuckled, giving him a little leeway. “Well, I think I’ll go now and let you get back to relaxing.”

“Wait,” he said, almost panicked. He sat up a little straighter and reached for her hand. For some unknown reason she gave it to him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here without asking you specific-specifically,” he said as he stumbled a little. 

“It’s fine. You’re here now,” she told him, not wanting to make the poor man feel worse. He obvious did have his troubles just as Juliana had said. Especially if he was drinking enough to get drunk in a place that was unfamiliar to him.

“I am....aren’t I,” he said as looked up at her with that same shy look from earlier.

“I should go,” she said, though she didn’t try to remove her hand just yet. 

She noticed again how much he really did look like Lore. He had the expression lines by his mouth and eyes that Data didn’t. She even noted the peppering of grey by his temples and thought back to when she had suggested that Lore do something similar and he’d been against the idea; not wanting to look too much older than her.

She decided to be daring and let her fingers comb through his hair. It felt softer than she’d been expecting. He leaned into her touch for a moment before he frowned and gently pushed her away.

“This is a mistake. I want you to know that I heard you when you said you weren’t interested,” he said with reluctance. “Just because I’m not at my best doesn’t mean I think you could want me.”

“Erol,” she said with pity. “Try to get some sleep and feel better, okay?”

He didn’t reply, but kept his focus on the floor. She left him then and hoped that he would be alright on his own. She was still a little unsure why he would go through so much trouble just to be a child’s party.

Once his visitor was gone, Earl went into the bathroom. He was starting to feel very tired. He could see it in his face as he observed his reflection. The journey and the long day of busy socializing had taken it’s toll. He braced himself on the vanity as he tried to steady his breathing. 

There was something about this young woman that intrigued him. She was so familiar and yet still a stranger. He had hoped to make a good impression, but couldn’t keep her from seeing his flaws. Even when they started to get along he pushed her away more than once. He wasn’t sure why he would do such a thing.

He considered taking a shower to try to relieve some of the strain he was feeling and began removing his outer clothes. Once he was in his underwear he looked at himself again in the mirror and frowned.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked his reflection with a heavy sigh. “Why did you push her away?”

Of course his questions were an exercise in self-deprecation and he wasn’t expecting an answer. So when he heard a voice reply, “Because you know you’re broken and she’ll never want you,” he was a little rattled.

Earl looked around the small room before turning to look into the small guest quarters behind him. When he returned his focus to the mirror he was startled to see his reflection giving him a less than kind glare. 

“Leave me alone. I’m doing my best,” he complained back at himself.

“Your best is pathetic; your hands are shaking,” his reflection responded coldly. Earl looked down to see that his hands were trembling quite violently. He knew what would come next and he tried to get back to the bed, abandoning all hope of a soothing shower. Unfortunately, he did quite make it.

......

Geordi returned to his quarters late that night. After checking on his son, he climbed into bed next to his girlfriend. He was just drifting off to sleep when she rolled over and started kissing the back of his neck.

The man hummed his approval and instinctively turned onto his back so that he was more accessible to his lover. 

“Mmm, I missed you G,” whispered Robin between messy kisses. Then she slowly let her hand wander down to find her boyfriend’s already erect member under the covers. 

Geordi moaned into her warm inviting mouth before making his reply, “I missed you too, D.”

Robin moved abruptly away from her lover as she tried to discern whether or not he had just said what she thought he had. The man’s steely-blue augmented eyes shot open and stared into her confused brown ones in the low light. 

“Robbie what’s wrong?” he asked innocently as he tried to wrap his strong arms around her and bring her back down to his very eager body.

“Instead of saying my name, you just said ‘D’,” she said with obvious offence.

“No I didn’t,” he replied quickly. “You must have heard me wrong. Besides what’s ‘D’?”

“Um, I’ve heard you call Data ‘D’ on several occasions,” she told him as she sat up and created more physical space between them.

“Robin it’s really late, I’ve had a very long day and I’m sure that whatever I said it was NOT in reference to Data,” he said with offence of his own.

“Uh huh,” she muttered unconvinced. “Sure it wasn’t.”

Geordi was getting upset now. Sure he’d been spending way too much time with the android and sure he was just with him before returning home, but Robin was his lover. She’d been his lover for ages and he had never even entertained such ideas until...

“Damn it Wesley,” he groaned as he covered his face with both hands as though to hide his disgrace.

“Great, now you’re saying Wesley’s name,” his girlfriend complained.

“No,” he said quite sternly as he leaned up on one elbow and faced her. “The other day Wesley was trying to imply that there had been something between me and Data.”

“God, why?” Robin blurted.

“Thank you! I have no idea,” Geordi said in agreement.

“Oh wait, but now you’ve been considering it?”

“No. No I have not,” he told her with insistence.

“Um, Geordi, you just basically said his name while I was pleasuring you,” she pointed out. Now she was getting angry.

“Robin...please let it go. I’m tired and I need to get some sleep,” he pleaded.

“Fine, but if I ever utter someone else’s name during sex you’d better let it go,” she added as she rejoined him under the blankets.

“I thought I already had,” he said as he cuddled her to him.

“That was different. You knew I was involved with Wes when we started hooking up,” she said dismissively.

“Doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt my feelings,” he told her with a yawn.

“Fine. To be honest I don’t care if you fantasize about Data,” Robin confided. “Just don’t actually cheat on me, okay.”

“I am not fantasizing...just drop it,” he insisted.

“Whatever. All I know is that Wes didn’t like cock until she started fucking your android friend.”

“Geez, Robbie, enough,” he winced. Sometimes he hated how offensive she could be in her choice of language.

Robin held her tongue and let him relax again. She was a little concerned about how strongly he’d protested against the mere insinuation that he could have the odd fantasy. Everyone was entitled to their secret desires as long as they never acted on them. At least that’s what she chose to believe.

.....


	7. Data is a Big Fat Fibber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some truths are revealed and Wesley is not exactly happy about them.

Wesley never made it to meet Robin after she left the strange man with the painfully familiar face. She’d been feeling unwell again and thought it best not to press her luck.

The next morning before her duty shift, Wesley went to go check on Earl...or Erol...or whomever he was. She felt bad about how they’d left things and she wanted to make sure he was presentable so that she wouldn’t have to worry about him all day.

So she put aside her personal concerns and rang the chime. When no answer came she knew he could be sleeping, but she had a bad feeling and so she rang it again. Then she hit the comm. 

“Earl, it’s Wesley. I just wanted to make sure you’re alright,” she said, her words clear though a little forced.

There was still no answer. So she hit the comm again. “Lee again...look if you want me to leave just say so, but ignoring me is only going to make me worry more. Please just say something.”

“Go away,” he croaked, voice broken and rough.

“Oh right, because that didn’t sounded horrible,” she grumbled sardonically to herself. 

She could call her mother, or she could use her ‘skeleton key’ hack that was useful for her maintenance duties and open the door without authorization. She threw caution to the wind and tapped her code. She told herself that Zoe would be devastated if something were to happen to another father figure in her life.

When the door slid open she quickly entered the small dark room. She requested the computer put up the lights by twenty percent. If the man was hung over, or ill she didn’t want to make him suffer more, but she also didn’t want to stumble around in the dark.

She found him curled up on the floor on the other side of bed. He was half dressed in only his his underwear and undershirt and looked to be only half conscious. 

“Hey Earl, how long have you been lying there?” she asked quietly as though not to startle him. Then she noticed that he was trembling. She quickly got down beside him and pulled the blanket off the bed to cover him.

“It’s going to be okay. What can I do?” she asked in hopes that she would have a better idea what was wrong when she called for medical assistance.

He managed to look at her, but couldn’t lift his head off the floor. “No doctors,” he begged.

“I have to call for help,” she told him as she touched his forehead to see if he had a fever. He was definitely perspiring; his hairline was wet.

He closed his eyes when he felt her hand touch his skin as though it was both the most wonderful and most horrible thing to him.

“Why no doctors?” she whispered as she leaned in closer, watching his reaction to her.

“It will pass,” he muttered in that slurred sort of way she’d heard before.

“Is it a seizure?”

He looked up at her with tears threatening in his eyes and his hips thrust, the sensation causing him to groan. His breathing became erratic as his eyes rolled back and he tried desperately to move away from her only to fail.

“I’m calling for help,” she said with more urgency. She didn’t know if he was pain, or ecstasy and she really didn’t care. He was officially freaking her out.

“Lee please...just stay with me,” he begged despite his apparent need to not be touched. His voice was gravelled and his dictation was slow. “I know it looks bad, but it should stop soon.”

“What is it?” she asked—afraid for him. 

“I just get overwhelmed sometimes,” he confessed.

She thought about finding him in her daughter’s room the previous day and wondered how close he’d come to falling apart then.

“Earl, does Juliana know that you have these fits?” she questioned as she made herself more comfortable next to him.

“She doesn’t know that I still have them,” he answered slowly as he appeared to be little more in control.

“Still? Do you have a head injury or something?”

“No, not exactly. It’s like a kind of feedback,” he confessed.

“You’re an android,” she said no louder than a whisper. 

“Lee...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here. You and Zoe are so happy and I’m making a mess,” he said pathetically as he closed his eyes again.

Wesley knew she shouldn’t push a distraught man in a state such as his, but she couldn’t help herself.

“You’re Lore...aren’t you?” she said softly as she held back a wave of grief.

“No...no...he’s dead.”

“But you were Lore,” she said after giving it some more thought. Even though she’d suspected as much for some time it was still hard to believe. The cosmetic changes to his eyes, hair and skin were quite impressive. Not only did he have more natural flesh, but he had lovely freckles scattered over his face and body.

He opened his eyes and stared at her. She could see her grief mirrored in his deep blue pools. “I thought it would be okay. I thought I was ready, but it was too soon.”

“Too soon to travel, or too soon to see Zoe?” she wondered aloud.

They both secretly knew that it wasn’t seeing Zoe that was causing his problem. He slowly nodded at her as best he could. 

“Does Data know what you are?”

“Don’t be angry. He didn’t want to get your hopes up...no one did,” he told her honestly. “I can’t remember anything, but sometimes faces and voices are so familiar and make me feel things.”

“I might be making things worse. I had a way of driving Lore mad,” she told him with concern that he would be better off without her so close to him.

Wesley sat back on her heels and tried to decide what she should do. She didn’t like the sinking feeling of betrayal that was now settling in. Data had lied right to her face when she asked him about the man. Even if he had no memories it might have saved everyone some trouble to just tell her who and what he really was. She had a suspicion that Data didn’t want her to know because he wanted to keep her to himself and it made her angry.

“Just tell me what to do,” she said hoping there was something. “You’re overheating...can’t you lower your temperature?”

“Can I do that?” he asked as though the concept was foreign.

“Yes, you used to do it for me if I got too hot,” she told him before she caught herself. “I mean...Lore used to do it.”

“I can’t focus.”

“Try a poem, or some lyrics,” she instructed as she continued to keep her distance.

“What?” he shot back sounding more distraught again. 

He closed his eyes as his body spasmed. She was seriously afraid that he was going to crash. So she very carefully lay next to him so that her head was close to his and quietly began to recite lyrics for him.

“Only you...can make this world seem right. Only you...can make the darkness bright.”

As she continued his lips seemed to mouth the words, but he didn’t utter any sound. “Only you and you alone...can thrill me like you do. And fill my heart with love...for only you.”

Then without opening his eyes, Earl finally joined her in the next line. “Only you....can make this change in me. For it’s true, you are my destiny.”

He seemed to calm a little, but continued to tremble. So she went on in an attempt to refocus him. As she went on he did his best to accompany her. 

“When you hold my hand, I understand  
the magic that you do.  
You’re my dream come true...  
My one and only you.”

The song was strangely familiar to him. It wasn’t just focusing on the words that helped, but breathing in time with them as well. He was amazed that she’d managed to help his body finally relax and he was able to cool himself down.

“You have a terrible singing voice,” he said as he slowly opened his eyes and chuckled.

She would have hit him, but she was just so happy that he sounded so much better. “Do you think we could move you off the floor now?” she asked unsure that he was ready.

He gave her a laboured nod, although he was finally able to enjoy having her so close to him and didn’t want her to leave just yet. The human looking android let her help him sit up before attempting to move to the bed.

“Better?” she asked as he leaned back onto the pillows.

“So much, you have no idea,” he said with relief.

Wesley was caught in the past again. At least this time she knew the truth and his comments were probably just coincidental. It wasn’t as though he remembered her, or knew that his words had importance.

“You don’t actually have a drinking problem. You just sound drunk and act drunk before and after one of these fits,” she surmised as she stayed close to him.

“Lucky me,” he sighed, slightly slurred.

“You really can’t remember anything?”

“No, but when I heard your voice the first time it made me feels things. At first I was happy and then I was so horribly sad.”

“But you came to find me anyways,” she said in disbelief that he would be so reckless.

“I had to. The more we talked the more you changed me,” he confided, thinking her choice in song was somehow more than coincidence.

“Changed you?”

“I was polite and boring...but you made me want to be interesting. You made me want to be someone,” he explained, though not very well. “I’m not making sense.”

“Not really,” she said with a shake of her head, not wanting to give into the hope that the man she’d lost was trying to resurface. “Juliana doesn’t know you’re here, does she?”

“No. She had to go across the continent with her husband to do some work on a misbehaving tectonic plate,” he confessed. “She’s not going to like that I left without telling her.”

Wesley knew she was already late for her shift, but she didn’t want to leave him. “Will you be alright now? Maybe I should get Data to come check on you and help you with some diagnostics or something,” she offered.

“Maybe that would be a good idea,” he replied as he closed his eyes again as though exhausted.

“Just try to keep yourself cool and quiet and I’ll send him as soon as I can,” she said with affection as she went to stand. The synthetic man had her by the hand and he pulled her back to him. His eyes were watching her again.

“Thank you. I know this is more than you were expecting,” he told her sadly.

She gave into him then and leaned down to kiss him chastely. Then—in true Lore fashion—he refused to let her go so that he could offer her something better. Wesley noted that this was the first time that his kiss didn’t feel familiar. Kissing Earl wasn’t at all like kissing Lore, or Data. He was definitely someone new and it made her hesitate. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” she whispered as she pulled away from him; her stomach full of butterflies. He looked as though he was trying to hide the hurt he was feeling. Somehow he managed to nod as he let go of her.

“See; you’re broken. She doesn’t want you,” said the voice in his head.

Earl swallowed hard and did his best to ignore his inner doubts as he watched the woman leave—the woman who had once loved another version of himself and couldn’t recognize him anymore.

.....

Wesley took the turbo lift to the Bridge. She wasn’t technically authorized to be up there without work orders, but that was where Data was and she felt the this was a conversation they needed to have in person.

She remained on the lift when the doors opened and was unnerved to find Lt. Grayson standing at the Security station. With Lt Worf now serving at Deep Space Nine, she’d forgotten to familiarize herself with his replacement.

“Ensign Crusher, to what do we owe the pleasure?” he smirked as he gave her a curious look.

It took everything in her not to roll her eyes at him. “I need to speak with Comdr Data. It’s a matter of some urgency,” she told him plainly, unwilling to flirt with him.

Grayson frowned before walking up to the front of the Bridge to speak to the android at Ops. Data looked back at her over his shoulder before standing and making his way to the lift. To make things as brief as possible they let the doors close for privacy. 

“What is it, Ensign? What is so urgent?” he asked with concern thinking the issue had something do with Zoe. Then he noticed how pale she looked. “Are you ill?”

“I definitely don’t feel so great, but that’s not why I’m here. I want to start by telling you that we are not okay,” she said very frankly. He opened his mouth to reply, but she put her hand up to stop him. “Earl has had a malfunction. He gets into these feedback loops and collapses. He seems to have recovered, but not before spending last night immobilized on the floor of his guest quarters,” she explained, careful to keep from getting too emotional about what she was telling him.

“Wesley, I can explain,” he told her when she finally let him get a word in.

“I don’t have time for you to explain yourself right now. I need you to go and make sure he’s alright. I have to go to Engineering. Thanks to your negligence and deception I’m now almost a full half hour late for my shift.”

“I will explain to Geordi. You do not have to be concerned about your tardiness,” he said hoping to smooth her ruffled feathers.

“Whatever, I have to go.” 

“I need to speak with Comdr Riker about why I must leave the Bridge. Then I will go and spend as much time as necessary with Earl,” he informed her. Then, knowing there was no possible way she would listen to him any further, Data left the lift so that the ensign could take it down to Engineering.

Halfway to her destination, Wesley called the lift to hold. She slid down the wall and hugged knees as she sobbed; overcome by emotion. She was just getting used to Lore being dead and now she’d been confronted by the fact that he was walking around all this time as someone new; someone who didn’t remember her or their life together. 

It was heartbreaking. She wished that someone had given her the chance to make the decision as to whether or not she wanted this man in her life. Clearly everyone thought he had a right to be in Zoe’s life, even if they weren’t all aware of his true circumstances.

She thought back to how Data had reacted when he’d thought she’d been hiding Lore from him. How cruel he’d behaved. She wondered if that was why he’d kept her from knowing him now. Was the android really so jealous and untrusting?

It took her several minutes to pull herself together. When she arrived in Main Engineering, Lt Barclay was waiting for her. He stood firmly with his shoulders squared in an assertive stance ready to reprimand her for her blatant disregard for his established work schedule. However, when he saw her red-rimmed eyes and flushed face he backed down almost immediately. 

“Everything alright, Ensign Crusher?” he asked in hushed tones.

“Not really, but I won’t let it interfere with my duties,” she assured him.

“Well, next time maybe let me know if you plan on being late. I can’t imagine how stressful it can be getting a toddler out the door in the mornings,” he offered sympathetically.

She hated using her daughter as an excuse for her short-comings, however in this case she wasn’t ready to broadcast what her actual issue was. So she let Barclay believe Zoe was to blame.

“Thank you, sir. I will endeavour to be more communicative with you,” she conceded with a weak smile.

.....

“How did I know I would find you in a Jeffries tube?” Robin mused in a sing-song way as she crawled her way to sit snugly beside her friend.

“Robin, you’re on maternity leave. What the hell are you doing here?” Wesley demanded as she tried to keep her eye on her scanner.

The new mother was wearing civilian attire, her hair up in a messy bun. “Don’t worry about it, Crusher. I have an in with the Chief,” she teased.

“Uh, huh? Speaking of which, why hasn’t Geordi proposed to you yet? I mean you had his kid for pity’s sake,” Wesley said in an attempt to distract the other woman.

“Who said he hasn’t?” Robin cleverly remarked as she knocked shoulders with her. “But that’s not why I’m here. Apparently there’s some concern that you’ve stumbled into something with Earl? Tell me you didn’t sleep with him. I know he’s your type and all, but at some point it becomes a pathological problem.”

“No Lefler, I didn’t have sex with him,” Wesley shot back, offended she would jump to such a conclusion.

“Good. Because two brothers with same exact face is one thing, but add on a human cousin and it just feels like all kinds of wrong,” she lamented.

“You’re terrible you know that right?” the ensign rebutted.

“Um, I’m a saint compared to you,” she scoffed.

“Look, if you promise to keep it a secret I’ll tell you what happened,” Wesley told her as she took a break from her work and gave her friend her full attention.

“I swear. You know you can tell me anything,” Robin replied without missing a beat.

“You know how Geordi and Data failed to recover Lore after he crashed?” Robin nodded and waited for her to continue. “Well I don’t know the details yet, but it would appear that Lore’s matrix re-stabilized because Earl is walking around in his place.”

“What? Are you trying to say that Earl is actually Lore!?” Robin blurted louder than necessary. Then she quickly covered her mouth, embarrassed by her outburst.

“I should have reconsidered telling you a secret in the middle of an echo chamber,” Wesley grumbled when she heard her friend’s voice bounce through the tubes.

“Sorry, Crusher. That was insensitive of me,” she conceded with a frown. “So does this guy know he’s Lore?” she added in a whisper.

“No...well he knows who Lore was and that he was technically him once,” she explained. “It’s complicated.”

“Sounds like head trauma. People who are still themselves but have no memories,” Robin noted thoughtfully. “Just like Jayden.”

Wesley gave her friend a look of confusion. She didn’t follow right away and couldn’t understand what the woman’s newborn had to do with anything. That was until she remembered where they’d gotten his name from and the story about Data losing his memories and being accepted by a primitive colony.

“But Data regained his memories when Geordi rebooted him,” Wesley countered with dismay.

“Doesn’t Data have a backup of Lore’s memories from Maddox? Can’t they just reintegrate them?”

“I honestly don’t know if they can, or if they should. If Earl is his own person it would be unfair to force him to be someone he isn’t. Besides, he still seems to be struggling with his stability and adding the stress of all those foreign memories could mess him up even worse. I don’t want him to go into cascade failure.”

“Plus there’s the whole criminal aspect,” Robin added with a shrug. “If Lore was suddenly resurrected wouldn’t Starfleet just want him incarcerated again?”

The ensign sighed and leaned her head to rest in the other woman’s shoulder. “Just once, Robin. Just once I would really like my life to be straightforward.”

“And boring? You’d hate it,” she told with a laugh.

Robin indulged her friend and put her arms around her. Even though they had been keeping their tone light, she could tell that the subject matter was weighing Wesley down. She thought that maybe her friend should take off early but knew it wasn’t her place to make the suggestion.

“Did you notice how cozy Troi and Riker looked at Zoe’s party?” the ensign asked out of the blue.

Robin smirked and had to agree. “Not just them, but your mom and Picard were all lovey-dovey too. There must be something in air ducts of this new Enterprise,” she mused with another laugh. “I guess you’re pretty mad at Data for lying to you, huh?”

“I just hope it was only him....well him and Juliana.”

“I can’t imagine Geordi knowing something like that and not telling me about it,” Robin told her quite seriously. Then her thoughts drifted to her boyfriend and his indiscretion the night before. She decided now was not the time to ask Wesley about her theories on the closeness of the two friends. “Unless he thought I would just turn around and tell you,” she added, staying in track.

“I don’t think he knew. I just can’t believe that Zoe had already figured it out and I scolded her for it.”

“I guess it’s going to be awhile before you forgive and forget?”

“At this point Data will be lucky if I ever trust him again,” Wesley muttered as she continued to sulk.

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to get complicated...yeah, I still don’t do simple. What can I say? My Enterprise is like a soap opera.


	8. Never Go To Bed Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geordi helps Earl and contemplates Data. Wesley and Data don’t address their conflict in the most productive way.

Once Geordi was up to speed he was fully on board with trying to make the best of a bad situation. He didn’t like the idea of his best friend keeping such an important secret, however he did understand why it was necessary at the time.

Lore was a criminal and there was no sense in condemning an innocent man just because he happened to be occupying the same body. That was if it could be believed that Earl was someone all together different, which so far wasn’t hard to accept.

“Looks like some of your basic protocols got scrambled when Maddox started to overwrite them,” Geordi said as he reviewed his analysis report. “I think our best bet would be to hook you up to the system at the same time as Data in order to reset them properly. I can’t believe Dr. Tainer allowed you to go this long without trying something similar.”

“Dr. Tainer is quite accomplished, however it has been quite some time since she has had to program an android,” offered Data.

“So why didn’t you become involved?” asked Earl nervously, not wanting to make big deal out of it.

“Because he was happier with you out of the way,” grumbled the inner voice in Earl’s head.

“I had other obligations. Though I do see now that perhaps I should have found the time,” Data replied honestly. 

Data watched as his friend opened the access panel on his brother’s head and very gently adjusted Earl’s head so he could connect the cable. Data had never had the privilege of observing the man’s process from the outside before. He was proud of how considerate and professional Geordi was being towards the android who had once been considered his enemy.

“Okay Data, it’s your turn,” Geordi said as he gestured for the golden android to take a seat.

“Although not ideal, I will allow you to what you feel is necessary, Geordi,” said Data, relaying his compliance.

The engineer seemed to hesitate momentarily before opening the panel on the side of his friend’s head. It was something he had done so many times over the years and it shouldn’t mean anything different this time. Geordi found himself lingering on Data’s profile. His new vision allowing him to observe him in a new, more vivid way. He smiled slightly that despite his visual augmentation he could still see the glow that surrounded him. It was comforting.

It didn’t help matters that he’d been obsessing all morning about what Robin had said the night before. It was distracting and he tried not to think about what it would mean if he really wanted to become so intimate with him; to accept that he wanted Data to be the one to make him feel that way. 

The thought was there now. It wasn’t as though it was the first time someone had implied that there was more between them than there was. It was, however, the first time he felt as though maybe there could be. Or maybe not—Not if Data was still hung up on Wesley and he was involved with Robin.

Data gave Geordi an expectant look over his shoulder when he sensed the delay in his friend’s actions. Geordi swallowed nervously and seemed to convey that nothing was wrong with just a look.

After a few hours, Earl began to feel less twitchy and more in control. Data, on the other hand, had used the opportunity to poke around in the other android’s head a little. He couldn’t ever recall having such an immediate link up to him before...at least not since the one Lore had initiated to push unfiltered emotions onto him; but that had been a oneway feed.

The engineer made a few final adjustments before he was satisfied that everything was as good as he could get it.

“I’m no cyberneticist, but I think I’ve done a pretty bang up job if I do say so myself,” Geordi beamed, his augmented eyes sparkling.

“Thank you, Geordi. I can already tell how much more normal I feel,” Earl said with gratitude.

Data was first to disconnect from the computer and he stood so that he could get a better appreciation for his friend’s work. “You have done a remarkable job. It is unfortunate that we were not able to proceed in this manner when he first failed.”

“We still don’t fully understand why I took so long to re-stabilize,” lamented the other, very human looking android.

“It is curious...I noted just now, while we were connect through the interface, that you are missing a large amount of your memories banks. In fact it would stand to reason that Maddox may have outright wiped some of your less desirable, more subversive experiences in an attempt to re-write you as a more subdued, controllable personality.”

“I don’t understand. You’re saying that I still have some of my memories?” Earl commented with a conflicted expression. “Why can’t I access them?”

“That is unclear at this time. It was also impossible for me to discern what they might be,” Data explained.

“Do you think my memories of Lee and Zoe might be somewhere in there?” the human looking android asked. He was trying not to listen the insistent voice in his head that was telling him not to trust Data.

Data paused as he experienced a disturbing wave of jealousy wash over him. He had been so focused on stabilizing the other android and saving his father’s work that he’d somehow forgotten the implications of his brother returning from the dead. If Earl became Lore again he could potentially want his family back. A family that Data was all too willing to claim as his own.

“They may, however—as I said—I cannot say for sure. If your relationship was turbulent, Maddox may have removed your memories of Wesley as well,” he stated frankly.

“See, he doesn’t want you to remember,” said the voice that only Earl could hear.

Geordi cleared his throat nervously and tried to redirect the conversation. “I suppose Juliana did your aesthetic upgrades herself?” he wondered as he admired the uncanny realism of his synthetic flesh. 

“That’s right. She felt it was important to go all out with the biological illusion,” Earl explained. “I even eat and drink now on a regular basis.”

“That must be inconvenient for you,” Data commented with a frown.

“It’s not that bad. It’s not completely necessary, but I can manage,” he replied with a smile.

“We will attempt to resolve the issue with your memories in time. Now I must return to the Bridge. I trust that you can finish up without me,” said the Starfleet android as he turned his attention back to his friend.

“Sure, Data. Go ahead,” Geordi conceded with a chuckle. Data back to business as usual.

“Can I get disconnected now?” Earl asked when it was just the two of them. He didn’t really like having his head open with his inner components exposed.

“Yeah, sure...it’s just. While the two of your were talking I think I may have located a broken bridge in your automated backup,” Geordi said after some consideration as to whether it was worth pursuing. “It could be that it was severed when Maddox initiated his changes. Though I can’t say for sure if he severed it, or if your own positronic matrix did it in order to protect your databanks.”

“Do you think there’s a chance that this broken bridge could be what’s blocking my memories, Geordi?” Earl was starting to feel hopeful.

“I guess we won’t know for sure until I try to repair the relay,” he confided.

“That would be...good I guess,” the synthetic man said unsure how to really feel about it.

“That would be fantastic,” said the voice. “Then you could show them all how great you really are.” Earl frowned and flinched a little at the comments in his head. The engineer seemed to take notice and was having seconds thoughts of his own.

“Look, I don’t have to do anything right now. Maybe we should make sure you’re good and stable first,” he offered. Geordi was also unsure how to feel about the prospect of bring Lore back into being.

“No, I think you should fix it....I mean, please try to repair it. Who knows if anything will actually happen, right?” Earl rambled, concerned that if he couldn’t regain something of his past his future would look very lonely.

“Right. And maybe these backups will help you remain functional,” Geordi added, convincing himself that he should everything possible to ensure the android’s longevity.

“Exactly,” Earl said in agreement as he swallowed the lump in his throat and sat back in anticipation.

......

When Wesley arrived back at her quarters Data was already inside waiting for her. He seemed to have easy access since he was so often left with Zoe in his care. But today was a very bad day for him to press his luck and she gave him the cold shoulder as she entered and listened to the message left by her mother.

“Hi Wes, Zoe and I are with Deanna. We thought we’d give you some quiet time after the party yesterday. See you for dinner.”

“You did not tell her yet, I presume,” Data inquired as he kept his distance from her.

She was resolved to never speak to him again and gave him a quick glare before proceeding to her bedroom. The android hesitated outside of her door, but pressed onward and entered a moment later.

“Earl is doing much better now. It was quite difficult to explain to Geordi about everything after all of this time. I know you can empathized with him and the turmoil he went through,” he rambled as he tried to make amends somehow. The woman ignored him and started making her bed. “However, I believed it necessary to now include him since I required his assistance to run a complete diagnostic and repair his damaged protocols.”

Data watched as Wesley roughly fluffed each of her pillows. He was at a loss as to what to say next.

“I am sorry, but Juliana and I felt that only we should be involved at this early stage of his development; we are his family,” he explained. “He should never have left Atrea IV. He could have done irreparable harm to his matrix.”

“Then why didn’t you send him back the moment he arrived?” she asked almost too quietly, her back to him.

“I was curious to observe him and see how far he’d come since his reactivation. Although Juliana keeps me up to date I could not help but want to see him for myself.”

“And you just thought I would be too stupid to see what was right in front of my dumb face?” she snapped as she turned and looked him in the eye.

“I never thought that, Wes. I only hoped that you would trust your heart and recognize that this man was not Lore,” Data added with a touch of sadness.

“That’s the thing...my heart told me that he is Lore,” she countered harshly. “I realize that now and that’s why I went to check on him.”

“I thought you found him off-putting?” he asked, though he was actually concerned that the opposite was true.

“So was Lore when we first met,” she informed him. “He’s always been an acquired taste.”

“You cannot believe yourself to be in love with this stranger?” Data questioned with disgust. “Surely you are far too intelligent to give into your fantastical indulgences.”

“Data, are you actually worried that I’m in love? Because it sounds as though you’re calling me a slut again,” she said accusingly. Of course he’d forgotten his outburst back when Lore had tried to steal her daughter.

The android fixed her with a hurt look. “Had I called you a slut before? I was not aware that I had...not that I meant to now.”

“Get out, Data. I don’t want to talk to you anymore,” she told him coldly as she turned her back to him again.

“He is not Lore. That was never a lie,” he said in earnest as he reluctantly backed up towards the door.

“How could you try to pressure me into having a child with you when you knew what you know?” Wesley blurted her voice full of pain.

The synthetic man winced at her piteous words and he took a step towards her again. “How can you deny what we have? Not just with Zoe, but with each other?”

She caught the passion in his voice, but wasn’t done with being mad at him. “Data...I told you before. We’re friends; although not so much at the moment.”

“Then I must rectify my compliance in your desire to remain platonic,” he told her quite forcefully. “I will not stand idly by and lose you again.”

“And how could I possible trusty you!? You’ve lied and cheated!”

“Because Grady was the exception, but he is longer of any concern. I was confused...as were you. Perhaps we needed to explore these other relationships in order to understand what it was we really needed.”

“You don’t need me, Data,” she snapped. “You just want my family...and you already have it. So stop fooling yourself that there’s anything left between us.”

The android didn’t want to back down this time. He knew if he did that he might not get another chance to sway her. So he went all in and closed the physical distance between them. Before she could react against him, he claimed her mouth with his own and kissed her with all the longing and resentment he had let build up inside of him. He didn’t want to just be the one to hold her, but the one inside her. He felt possessive. She was meant to be his and he wouldn’t let her go this time.

Maybe he was emboldened by the fact that they wouldn’t be interrupted, or maybe it was the harsh reality that Wesley could have already fallen victim to her wanton desires and had sex with the android who wasn’t his his brother. Knowing that she hadn’t made him all the more desperate to make his claim. 

“Don’t,” she murmured as she tried to pull away from him. He gave her a lustful look as though daring her to stop him. She didn’t speak again. Instead she laced her fingers into his hair and brought him back to her, pressing her body to his.

Wesley wanted to push him away. She knew that she should, but she was lonely and sad. And she was so tired of fighting with him. Besides, she knew that Data was right and Lore was gone. Knowing that Earl would be gone in a day or two made her all the more lonely and sad. She knew that this new android should be allowed the time to develop and become someone new. Data was here; he wanted her and had been so good to her even after the way she’d treated him.

They both became quickly aware that this wasn’t their usual dalliance. This time was angry and needy and urgent. They ripped each other’s clothes off—Data did most of the actual ripping—and they tumbled onto the half made bed. The synthetic man did his best not to crush his lover as he fell over her and pushed into her core. He greedily pawed at her bare breasts as he sucked at her neck and indulged in the pleasure her body provided him.

Wesley became lost in their rhythm as they rocked; her heels digging into his lower back and her nails scratching up his neck and shoulder blades. She would have never guessed in a million years that the only thing better than sex with an android was angry sex with an android. Even though she and Lore had had a turbulent relationship she couldn’t recall ever once having sex during a fight.

“I’m still mad at you,” she panted as he began to move faster.

“You are impossible to please,” he groaned before pressing his forehead to hers. 

“God, I forgot how good this feels,” she gasped as he aided her pleasure with the addition of his fingers to her most sensitive mound. Then her whole body tensed as she arched her back and cried out. Data curled his lip in a satisfied smirk. Then he let go and came just as loudly.

Wesley must have blacked out because the next thing she knew she cuddled up against the offensive android and he was looking much too pleased with himself.

“You are such a dog,” she muttered unimpressed, though she could tell by the state he was in that she was no better. She could actually see where she’d damaged his synthetic skin.

“I suppose I would have to be to bed such a bitch,” he quipped without missing a beat.

“What the hell did you just say?” she said with dismay as sat up and stared at him. He sounded too horribly like his dead brother.

“I was being clever...though I can see now that I was too offensive,” he said nervously as he became much more himself again. 

“Yeah, a little bit,” she said agreement as she relaxed again and lay back down.

“I would apologize further, however it may be better not to so that we may have something to argue about it the future,” he remarked as he smirked again.

“Oh no. This was a one time thing. We are not back together,” she informed him with conviction.

“I beg to differ. I know that you will change your mind,” he said unmoved by her statement. “I can tell that your naughty, horny side is a good match for mine.”

She gave him a whack to his chest with her hand for using her silly words against her. The abuse didn’t bother him; in fact he took her offending hand and brought it to his mouth. He kissed her palm before taking one of her fingers into his mouth and sucking on it.

“You’ve become quite the sexual deviant, Mr. Data,” she mused as she watched him continue his efforts.

“You were quite the bad influence,” he hummed.

“Are you sure it was me and not your little boy toy?”

“Hmmm...he was influential as well,” he purred. “What about you? What obscene things did my criminal brother teach you?”

Data realized too late that he never should have spoken about the dead in such a lurid way. Wesley’s face crumpled into tears as she turned away from him.

“I apologize. I was wrong to say that. Wesley please forgive my impertinence.”

He spooned her from behind and held her close as she continued to cry. He didn’t know why he was so prone to cruelty. It seemed to happen when he suspected her of preferring his brother over himself. This emotion of jealousy was still so new to him and he would have to work on his raw, unchecked behaviours. 

After a moment Wesley turned back into him and let him hold her until she fell asleep. He couldn’t quite find the words for how it made him feel to hold her while she was so vulnerable and hurt. He was a little concerned that it was still close to possessiveness, however it had softer undertones. An emotion be believed to be more akin to love.

......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that happened. You’re welcome...or oops sorry? I swear I like Data...he’s just going through some strong conflicting emotions. Be a good brother or keep the woman he believes he loves.


	9. Caught Between Two Droids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earl starts to remember who he is and Wesley feels guilty.

It was like waking from his dream program when Data’s sexuality program finally settled down and he took in the state of the room. Wesley lay asleep beside him, naked. He decided it would be best not to wake her.

He was at a loss when he realized that he’d destroyed his uniform in his urgency. Luckily, he remembered the escape bag of belongings and the clothes that Wesley had obviously stolen for his brother to wear. In a way he would only be taking back what was rightfully his. He carefully pulled out the outfit and dressed. As he snuck out of the bedroom he was relieved to find the main living area was still empty.

He was just leaving when Deanna and Beverly approached in the corridor. They had Zoe with them and the android hoped that he didn’t look as guilty as he felt, even if he couldn’t completely hide his feelings from Troi.

“Hi Uncle Data,” Zoe greeted him. “You look nice,” she added when she noticed he was dressed differently than the norm.

“Yes, Data...you do look rather usual,” noted Deanna with a knowing look.

The android opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated. Both women smiled expectantly as they observed his struggle. “Why are you regarding me in that manner?” he asked as though there was some unspoken secret between them.

“Oh nothing,” Beverly mused. “We were just worried that maybe the cat got you.”

Data tilted his head with a questioning expression on his face. “The cat?”

“Yes, those are quite the scratch marks on your neck,” Deanna said with a dramatic frown. Data instantly touched a hand to his neck and discovered a few abrasions on the left side. He looked as surprised as the two women.

“Oh no. Was Fido a bad kitten?” Zoe asked with worry.

“No Zoe. I assure you that it was not your kitten who scratched me,” he reassured her with frank honesty.

“I bet it wasn’t,” Deanna giggled like a school girl.

“Deanna,” Beverly chided as she gestured to the little girl.

“I should be going,” he said flatly as he squeezed between the trio and with his tail between his legs.

“I guess that means Wesley’s afternoon wasn’t as quiet as we had hoped,” the empath mused as she watched the android swiftly walk away from them.

“Let’s just hope that this isn’t as bad as it seems,” Beverly grumbled with concern that no good could come from any situation where Data left looking so guilty.

......

When Wesley woke she was confronted with the terrible reality of what she’d done. Even though it appeared that Data had disposed of their torn uniforms, her body still spoke of her misdeeds. She was sure that she ached in new places.

She showered in attempt to wash away her sins. She tried not to think about how impossible Data would be now; and she wondered how many other people ever had the privilege of seeing that side of him. Maybe he was better at keeping it private than Lore had ever been, but the raw, untamed desire was definitely eerily similar.

“You’re such a slut,” murmured to herself under the very hot water.

When she dressed and made her way into the living area she was startled to find Zoe sitting quietly with Earl. It looked as though he was teaching her how to read music. She’d never known Lore to be musically inclined, but knowing Juliana and given his new start, the scientist was probably determined to endow Earl with some of her own interests as she had with Data.

“Mama, you’re up,” Zoe called from her little table. 

This caught her tutor’s attention and he looked up at her nervously. “How are you, Lee?”

“I’m alright, thanks,” she replied, though her body begged to differ. “How are you feeling now, Earl?”

He looked back at Zoe and smiled softly. “Much better. Geordi LaForge and Data were quite proficient in their abilities to correct my concerns,” he informed her a little more robotically in tone than she was used to hearing from him.

“Oh Papa, you sound like Uncle Data when you say those things,” Zoe teased.

Wesley froze and felt like she might faint. She desperately held onto the wall for support as she watched Earl’s face to see how he would react to her daughter’s slip. 

“Do I? I suppose I hadn’t realized,” he commented as though there was no problem.

“Um...Earl...” Wesley struggled to speak to him. The synthetic man stood quickly and came to help her as her knees gave out.

“Goodness, what’s wrong, Lee?” he asked with obvious alarm.

“I must be dreaming,” she murmured as looked longingly into his face. “This isn’t real.”

Earl helped her over to the couch and sat her down. Then he instinctively put a hand to her forehead, much like she had when he was unwell earlier that day.

“No. You’re awake, I assure you,” he told her firmly as he continued to worry for her. “Beverly can you come out here for a moment?” he called loudly so that the woman’s mother would hear him.

Beverly came out from her bedroom and gave them both a frown. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. I think she almost fainted,” the man explained.

“Zoe, called you ‘papa’,” she managed as she leaned back into the cushions. 

“Oh, right. I’m sorry about that,” he said feeling at fault. 

“Didn’t he tell you, Wes?” her mother questioned as she knelt down beside her. “Geordi was able to help him recover some of his memories.”

“I hadn’t told her yet. She just came into the room,” the man explained.

“What? What are you saying?” Wesley asked unsure of what was actually happening. It was almost like the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. The realization that she’d given up on him too quickly was making it hard for her breath.

“Papa came back, Mama. That was my birthday wish,” Zoe told her gleefully as she climbed up into her father’s lap.

“Don’t freak out, Lee. It’s not that simple,” he said with raised brows. “I don’t feel like Lore; I just feel less lost than I did before.”

“Geordi said it would take time to see if how much of his memories return, but he believes that Earl is much more stable now,” Beverly said softly.

“I don’t understand. Why didn’t Data tell me anything?” Wesley was appalled that he had left out such an important development just so that he could tumble into bed with her.

“Data doesn’t know yet either. I was actually hoping he would be here so everyone would be on the same page,” Earl continued. 

“Geordi went to get him,” added her mother.

“So, you remember things...like what?” Wesley inquired as she tried not to become hysterical. The stress was already making her feel sick and she could feel stomach lurch.

“I remember Mother and Father of course,” he told her softly. “I know there were a few other androids before Data; and I can recall some of our time together...and Zoe,” he added as he gave his daughter a loving kiss on the cheek.

“Oh,” she whispered as she became more overwhelmed.

“Zoe, why don’t you come with me and we’ll organize your toys in your room,” Beverly instructed as she led the little girl away. Though reluctant to leave her father, Zoe did as she was asked.

“Lee, it’s going to be okay,” Earl told her sweetly as he moved closer and cupped her face.

“No it isn’t,” she sobbed as she pulled away from him. “I had sex with your brother.”

The android sat back a little and regarded her with a serious look of hurt. “Data? When?”

“It literally just happened,” she confessed as she hid her face in her hands.

“No...but I was here and he was helping me,” he sputtered with dismay.

“I know,” she whined.

“Look, it’s fine. Like I said I’m not really me...at least not yet,” he told her in an attempt to let her off easy. He even put an arm around her to show her how much he wanted to support her no matter what she confessed to doing.

“I’m so sorry, Lore. I was just so sad and lonely. Even though you were here it was like I was losing you all over again,” she ranted in her grief as she leaned into him.

Hearing her say his name in that mournful way did something to him. He was starting to believe that maybe he was the man she’d lost after all.

“Lee, don’t worry about it. I forgive you. I was gone for ages...hell, I was dead,” he rebutted passionately.

“This is Data’s fault. He’s the one to blame,” growled that persistent voice in Earl’s head.

She stopped sobbing and dared to look at him then. He smiled at her, despite his inner turmoil, which made her smile back. 

Data and Geordi arrived and entered the room to find the pair looking quite cozy on the couch. Geordi was ready to turn right back around and he tried to pull Data with him to no avail.

“What are you doin?” Data demanded as he approached them.

“Lee was just upset. You know how hard these kinds of things can be for her,” Earl who was now Lore offered as a form of explanation.

“Yes, I do know, however I do not believe that you should know,” Data countered harshly.

“That’s the thing...I sort of remember things now,” the more human looking android rebutted as he picked up on the aggressive tone in Data’s voice and stood.

“This morning you were a dysfunctional mess,” Data stated with confusion. “You expect me to believe that not only are you stable, but you recall who you are?”

“Here we go,” huffed Geordi as he feared they were about to have it out. He tried to do one good thing and it was about to bite him in the ass. He couldn’t understand why Data was still so involved with Wesley and couldn’t just let her go.

“I don’t remember everything, but I remember enough,” he told him in earnest. “I remember how you were always innocently lurking, waiting to offer your services to my wife.” Lore wasn’t entirely sure if he’d made the part of his comment out loud or not.

“I do not know what that means and do not believe you have any right to refer to Wesley as your wife,” Data rebutted defensively.

“Well she is...and Zoe is my daughter. Thank you for holding my place, but I think I can take things from here,” Lore said sincerely as his inner voice and outer voice found a kind of harmony.

Data’s face contorted as he punched the other android in his human looking face. 

Lore seemed unconcerned by the assault and casually touched his fingers to his lip. He furrowed his brows when he discovered that he was now bleeding. “Well, that’s new,” he mused.

“Data enough!” shouted Wesley as she finally stepped in. “Zoe is in the next room. Physical violence will only confuse and upset her.”

“Yeah, besides I’m the one who should be angry. Data was the one who took advantage,” Lore added as he continued to be fascinated by his spit lip.

“Took advantage?” Geordi found himself asking though he knew he shouldn’t. He was really getting tired of his best friend letting his new found sexuality dictate his actions.

“You told him!?” Data cried at Wesley, clearly offended.

“I was distraught...Zoe called him papa and I lost it okay?” she said defensively, as she held her side and grimaced. She was definitely not well.

“Then you should have corrected your daughter and asked the man to leave,” Data said insistently with a pompous air that put Wesley on edge.

“Don’t tell me what I should and shouldn’t do, Data. It’s clear that what happened between us was a mistake!” she growled as she tried to keep her voice down.

“Why is everything so melodramatic with you?” Data huffed with frustration. “You need to take responsibility for your own decisions. I can already tell you are feeling the physical side effects of your guilt.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Leave her alone,” Lore warned as he put himself between the two of them. Even if this woman wasn’t ready to be with him, he still felt compelled to protect her and right now Data looked ready for more violence.

“Data, I don’t want to take sides here, but Earl’s right,” Geordi interjected. “You need to take a step back and figure out why you’re so angry. This isn’t like you.”

Data flashed his friend an unpleasant glare and then looked as though he would hit his brother again. Instead he seemed to absorb Geordi’s words of concern. Slowly, he backed down and left the room in silence. 

“Well, that was an absolute disaster. I thought Data wanted to restore his brother,” grumbled Geordi as he felt a headache coming on.

“So did I,” Lore muttered with a similar sentiment. “Hey, are you alright, Lee? You like you’re in actual pain.”

“I’m fine. It passed. I guess I’m just having my own feedback loop,” she joked weakly trying to play it off as nothing. “Maybe I should go after him,” she added, feeling as though she should have made more of an effort to take control of the situation.

“Lee...”

“I’ll be right back. You should have my mom look at that lip,” she said with affection as she caressed his face.

Lore couldn’t see a way to stop her and let her go after the other android.

The ensign caught up to the Second Officer at his quarters down the hall. He invited her inside as to keep the rest of the ship from witnessing their quarrel. He also wasn’t feeling quite right for some reason and he needed a moment to regroup.

“Wesley, I surrender. I cannot continue to have same argument over and over again. If you want to attempt to reestablish your relationship with my brother I will not stop you,” Data rambled as he made his position clear.

“Look, I don’t really know what’s going to happen. It’s all so sudden,” she responded before doubling over. “Oh God!”

“I do not understand. Did I inadvertently injure you during our sexual encounter?” he asked with serious concern as he moved to support her.

“I don’t know,” she replied as she tried to breath through the sudden onslaught. The only thing that came close to the pain she was now experiencing was when she’d been in labour. “I think I might throw up.”

Data carefully picked her up and rushed her into his bathroom. She gagged a little but regained her composure. “Sorry.”

“I will get your mother,” he told her plainly.

......


	10. Unexpected Wonders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley’s illness is due to a parasite of sorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earl has now become Lore again, but will be called ‘Earl’ by most people. I hope it’s not too confusing.

“Are you any feeling better?” Beverly asked although still concerned for her daughter’s state of mind even if she was feeling better physically.

“No, not really,” she murmured as she tried again to stand and failed. 

“Have you been drinking?” her mother asked discretely as she tried to discern why she was suddenly so unwell.

“Not at all, Mom,” Wesley shot back, offended. 

“How do I know? You’ve been through some fairly stressful personal situations lately,” the red haired woman rebutted defensively. “I mean, Earl shows up and turns out to be more than he appears; then there was whatever happened between you and Data this afternoon...not to mention how pushy he’s been about the whole baby thing.”

Wesley grabbed at her mother’s sleeve and held onto her with an unexpected urgency. “Dear lord, please stop talking.”

“Is the pain back?” Beverly countered with obvious confusion. “I need to get you to sickbay.”

“I don’t want to move,” Wesley winced as she held her stomach with free hand.

“I’ll get Alyssa to bring my med kit. Just hold tight,” her mother told her sternly.

When the nurse arrived she whispered something as she handed her Chief Medical Officer the kit and a PADD. Beverly frowned as she reviewed the information presented and opened the kit.

“I have a bit of disturbing news for you, kid,” Beverly told her daughter as she crouched down next to her.

“What is it?” Wesley whined as she shifted in a pathetic attempt to get comfortable.

“Lore must have stolen another one of those samples because you are very pregnant,” Beverly informed as calmly as possible.

“What the fuck are you talking about? I just had a physical..I specifically asked if I could be pregnant!” she spat, outraged. But she knew somehow it was true. She suddenly recalled that when Lore was failing he was trying desperately to tell her something about using ‘it’. She just didn’t have a clue what ‘it’ was at the time.

“Wesley, language,” Beverly scolded.

“This isn’t happening,” Wesley complained as she covered her face with both hands.

“Unfortunately this pregnancy seems to have masked itself,” the doctor confided. “Maybe Soong was afraid that if the samples, or one of these children fell into the wrong hands it could be used for the wrong reasons. On reexamination of your results I can see some tell-tale indicators on your latest bloodwork. To be frank, it isn’t anyone’s fault that we didn’t know.”

“So, I’m the idiot who didn’t know she was pregnant not once, but twice?” her daughter sobbed as she flinched in pain again.

“You didn’t notice anything in all this time?” Beverly questioned.

“I was depressed, Mom,” Wesley said with dismay. “I didn’t know if I was going to be charged with murder and lose my freedom; my child. So no, I didn’t notice any mood swings, weight gain, or anything else. I actually lost weight.”

Beverly gave her daughter a piteous look. “How could Lore not have told you? Didn’t he know I gave you that canister?” Beverly asked with frustration.

“Yes he did. It’s a good thing that he’s technically dead, or I would kill him...Earl had better hope he stays Earl,” moaned Wesley in distress. “Can you stop it? The labour?”

Her mother remained focused for a moment before she touched a hypospray to her neck. “That should start to relax the spasms, but I really need to get you to Sickbay.”

Before Wesley could respond, Data stuck his head in the room to check on their progress.

“How is she, Doctor?” he asked from the doorway.

“Alyssa and I will get her to Sickbay,” she told him as calmly as she could manage. “We appear to have a situation.”

“What sort of situation? Should I inform the captain?” Data inquired with concern. 

Wesley nodded her head at her mother.

“Yes, please do. I think that would be a very good idea,” she told him assertively.

Both Captain Picard and Comdr Data stood with their mouths hanging open when the doctor gave them the disturbing news.

“Are you certain that you have been inseminated with synthetic DNA and not biological?” Data asked in disbelief. 

Wesley was feeling a little euphoric from the medication her mother had given her and she tried not to laugh at her captain’s discomfort when the android used the word ‘inseminated’.

“It’s actually quite difficult to run any scans on the fetus, but given that Wesley hasn’t had any encounters with anyone but Lore in the past few months—until today—it stands to reason that he was the one to do this,” Beverly explained.

“I do not understand,” Data replied adamantly. “The sample in the canister is intact.”

“Surely it’s possible that there could be some other explanation,” muttered Picard as he felt compelled to say something.

“If it was Lore’s doing then she’s approximately five months along. From the thorough physical exam I did—which was necessary with my instruments proving unreliable—she only seems to have reached the end of her first trimester. That’s one tiny baby if she meant to be approaching the end of her second,” she explained to both men. “So it is still technically early enough to terminate the pregnancy if she wants to. That is if she doesn’t go into full labour. We’ll know soon if I successfully stopped the process.”

“Should she want to? This is not just any child,” the captain countered with interest.

“Wes already has her hands full with one special girl. It could be Lore and Data all over again if she isn’t ready for the responsibility of two very advanced, unique children,” Beverly ranted in her daughter’s defence. “Besides...I really don’t know how it’s fairing. I can’t even get a heartbeat. Alyssa’s gone to fetch her antique stethoscope so we can have an old-fashioned listen.”

“I understand your concerns, however presuming it is healthy, how will all of you feel years from now if she decides not to go through with it?” Picard wondered with importance.

“How will we all feel if she does and everything goes to pot?” the doctor rebutted.

The ensign could hear most of what they were saying, but she didn’t care. In fact she was willing to let them argue it out. Maybe they could help her find the right thing to do. 

Data moved to sit next to her and took her hand. “I am so sorry that my brother did this to you without your consent,” he said as he tried to do his part to help her feel better. “Will you want to tell Earl, or should we allow him to leave without knowing?”

“I guess he’s still in my quarters, huh?” Wesley didn’t know what she wanted to do about Earl. He was convinced that he was quickly becoming Lore again, but she wasn’t as sure. She didn’t want to put any undue stress on him and considered not telling him.

“He was and may still be. We needed someone to remain with Zoe while all of this was going on,” he explained. “I did ask Ms. Ashton to join them, given my brother’s history of running off without telling anyone.”

“My poor little girl is going to be heartbroken,” she with a sigh. “I think that maybe you were right. I should have kept my wits about me and corrected her error when she called Earl her papa.”

“You were understandably unwell and unable to think clearly,” Data offered with a kind smile. “Perhaps you could tell me more about the device that my father used to assist in Zoe’s development. I may have something similar...that is if you wish to proceed and attempt to carry to term?” He didn’t want to push her, but he wanted to if he could.

“I think I’d better. Just in case the other sample fails,” she confided as she gave his hand an affectionate squeeze. Data smiled a little brighter and he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “It was a regenerative type of device for synthetic tissue and nerves,” she explained.

“Geordi and I have created a device I use when I am heavily damaged. I believe I could alter the algorithm so that it would gently aid in the growth process rather than dramatically speed up regeneration.”

“That’s perfect. Thank you, Data,” she said softly as she continued to gaze up at him. “I’m sorry about before. About everything.”

“As am I. I never would have been so physically aggressive if I knew of your delicate condition,” he said with regret.

Wesley blushed as she recalled his forceful demeanour from earlier. Emotional turmoil aside, it had been some the best sex she’d had in quite some time.

Alyssa arrived and handed her stethoscope to Beverly. The doctor came over to her daughter’s side while Data continued to hold her hand for support.

The red haired woman smiled brightly. “I can hear the heartbeat; sounds nice and strong,” she beamed.

“Why is it so tiny? Is it my fault, Mom? Is it because I wasn’t taking care of my myself?” Wesley asked, racked with guilt.

“I honestly don’t think so. If you were so unwell you should have outright miscarried. Maybe this synthetic stuff just takes whatever it can take and develops at its own pace,” her mother surmised.

“That may be a valid hypothesis,” offered Data. “Zoe was also quite small, but you said that she had developed enough with the aid of external assistance to survive an early birth. Her physical development had less to do with her human gestation period and more to do with how functional her synthetic parts were.”

“But it’s so tiny...we can’t know any of that of the scans don’t work,” the pregnant woman said tearfully.

“Mr. Data, why don’t you go and confer with Mr. LaForge and return when you’ve come up with something to help the child along,” Picard injected. He felt the need to do something. “Wesley, I am certain your mother would agree that the best thing for you right now is to lie back and relax. We are all here to assist you. Nothing bad will happen if we can help it.”

The android nodded and took off so that he could return as soon as possible.

“Thank you, Captain,” Wesley said sadly. She felt as though his rare paternal side was much like Dr. Soong’s had been. Both were solid, unemotional men of science and order and rarely showed their softer side.

......

Once things had calmed down and her daughter appeared to remain stable, Beverly returned to her quarters to see to her granddaughter. ‘Earl’ was still hanging about even though Delia had taken over the little girl’s care.

“It’s so sweet of you to be so worried about someone you barely know,” Delia was commenting as the doctor entered the room. “I’m sure she’ll be just fine.”

Lore looked as though he was about to commiserate some more, but the Beverly caught his attention.

“What’s going on? Lee took off after Data and the next thing I’m told is that she’s in Sickbay.” He practically smothered the woman as she came through the door. “What did he do to her?” he demanded with rising panic.

“Nothing Earl,” she replied harshly. She was so angry at him right now since she knew that all of this was his fault; even if he couldn’t remember committing the deceitful act. “Wesley is just unwell. Depression and prolonged periods of malnutrition and exhaustion will do that to a person.”

The synthetic man shook his head in confusion. “I don’t understand,” he began to say.

“Poor, Wes. I knew she was hiding something,” muttered Delia, mostly to herself. “Why don’t I take Zoe into her room,” she added as she tried to be more helpful. 

Lore watched them go before he turned on Beverly again. “Explanation, please.”

“Look...Earl, or Lore, or whoever you are right now,” Beverly retorted frankly as she walked him to the door. “My daughter is sick. Her husband was basically murdered right in front of her and she took another person’s life because she believed that she was saving herself and the people she loved. She’s a fucking disaster. You showing up here right now was a big mistake. I know I invited you, but I naively had no idea what I was doing. If I had known what you really were—who you really were—I wouldn’t have asked you to come.”

“That’s bullshit,” he snapped in response. “You’re her mother and you know that she loves me. If you had known I was Lore you would have welcomed me with open arms. I need to go see her.”

“No you don’t,” Beverly countered quite forcefully. “Data will take care of her. You need to make arrangements to go home.”

“I want Lee to tell me to leave. I need to hear it from her, or I’m not going anywhere,” he told her firmly as he slurred the odd word.

Beverly gave him an odd look. “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you enunciating properly?”

“It’s that feedback problem. This is really fucked up and having trouble,” he said openly as he pleaded for some understanding,

“Oh, right...of course. Well, I’ll have to ask her first if she wants to see you. That’s the best I can do,” she told him as she softened a little to him.

“Fine, but don’t lie about. I really want to see her again, especially if I’m not staying,” he added with a pained look.

......

Data applied the new regenerative device to Wesley’s stomach. He only hoped it did what they were hoping it would to speed up the unborn child’s development. The young woman was on fluids and some other supportive care to help her ailing body cope with her unorthodox pregnancy.

Beverly returned with Lore in tow. She made him wait near the entrance of Sickbay so that she could confer with Data.

“What is he doing here? You did not tell him, did you?” Data asked as he tried to be as discreet as possible, knowing his brother would be able to hear them no matter how quiet they tried to speak.

“No...I mean I told him she was unwell...which she most definitely is,” Beverly told him as she gave their guest a quick glance over her shoulder. “I should have been more attentive to her. Wesley has always been so self-sufficient that sometimes I forget she still needs someone looking after her from time to time.”

“She is quite proficient at suffering alone. Although she does express most of her problems to Robin,” Data noted with a frown. He really didn’t like how his ex-girlfriend still confided so much in her ex-girlfriend.

“See...now all I can think about is how I wish they’d just gotten married and then none of this would be happening right now,” the doctor complained.

“That is an irrational and highly unlikely notion,” he said though he was well aware that she was never expecting that things would have been simple for her son—now daughter.

Both parties looked over at the man still waiting to know what was happening. “I don’t really want to wake her up right now,” Beverly said plainly.

“Then do not. I will take my brother away and you can let us know when she is awake,” he told her supportively.

Beverly smiled weakly and caught his hand. “Data...when the dust clears could you do me a favour and make an honest woman of my daughter?”

“Sadly that will be up to her,” the android replied with some hesitation. He didn’t like she was being so blatant in her request since he was certain Lore could hear her.

Lore frowned as he leaned on the wall outside of Sickbay. “This is such a mess. Maybe I should leave without seeing her,” he said his voice rough and emotional.

“I was not expecting you to give up so easily,” Data commented as he regarded his brother.

“A part of me knows that I love her, but what good will that do if I continue to make her unwell. I was so disappointed by her reluctance to give me her time and attention that I didn’t see her pain,” he rambled sadly; some of his words less clear than the should have been. “I’m due to take a return transport in two days and I think I’d better be sure to be on it.”

Data wanted to tell him to go, in fact he would have been more than happy to see him leave. However, something told him that it was too soon for the human looking android to make such a long journey on his own. 

“You sound as though you are still experiencing some of the side effects from your emotional feedback. I thought Geordi had corrected the issue,” said Data.

“It’s no where near as bad as it was. That was intense. I can’t believe I got so angry with you. You’ve been nothing but good to my Zoe. It’s understandable that you would develop a deeper attachment to Lee as well,” Lore told him honestly.

“That is...very decent of you, brother,” the golden android replied as he realized how different and kind he was being.

“Hmm. You called me ‘brother’,” observed Lore with a small grin. “I think that’s the first time you’ve done that since my resurrection.”

“Perhaps it is not the best idea to call you that too often. We would not want the wrong people to believe you to be an android; especially since you have worked so adamantly to be believed as human,” Data told him after some consideration.

“Right...that makes sense,” he concurred reluctantly. “It did sound rather nice though and I do feel more like me, whoever I am.”

“How can you know how you feel, if you do not know who you are?” the golden android asked with uncertainty.

“It’s just this feeling I have,” Lore told him with a knowing air.

Data didn’t know how to feel about the prospect of Lore remember everything about his past and was hopeful that he was still missing some memories. “I still believe it is best to address you as either Earl, or Erol while you are on the Enterprise.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to get arrested,” Lore said in agreement.

.....


	11. Delia Ashton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lore gets to know Delia better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to confess that I removed and rewrote this situation a few tones before putting it back in almost exactly as I had first written it.

Later Lore sat at the bar in Ten Forward. He was staring at his drink and thinking over what he should do next. He was still obsessing a little over wanting to speak to Wesley again. He had checked in on his daughter just before her bedtime, but now he felt restless and unfocused.

The synthetic man looked up as someone sat beside him. He smiled a little when he discovered it was Delia Ashton. He had found her to be pleasant company and her presence was more than a little reassuring.

“Hello Earl,” she greeted warmly as she turned her body towards him. He noticed that her wild, wiry hair was loose for once and it fell about her shoulders in a pleasing way.

“Hi Delia, how are you? Sorry if I came off as a bit of nut job earlier,” he apologized with self deprecation.

“Not at all,” she assured him with a smile. “You seem like a very sensitive soul. It must have been upsetting to hear that the mother of your little friend was suddenly so ill.”

“It was,” he replied with a sigh. “You don’t think it’s strange that I feel so connected to Zoe?”

“Not at all...I guess I believed that she reminded you of your own daughter. You did have a daughter, right?”

“Yeah...I did...and she was so much like Zoe it’s remarkable,” he fibbed, not knowing if he could trust her with their family secret.

“I can’t imagine what it must be like to lose your family,” she lamented with a touch of sorrow. “My mother took me from my father when I was very young; she wanted a better life for me than the one she’d had.”

“Your mother was Orion?” Lore asked thoughtfully.

“Yeah. My biological father was a trader from Straleb,” she explained. “He was basically very human in appearance, but strict and suspicious in nature...and then there was the fact that my mother was basically his property.”

“It sounds like your mother was a brave woman,” he observed.

“She was...I miss her,” Delia added softly.

“I take it you don’t have any family—any children of your own?”

“Not yet. I really like caring for Zoe. I specialized in paediatric medicine which makes me well suited to be her caregiver; not that Zoe needs all that much care in terms of medical needs,” she noted with a chuckle. 

“Sure, but if she did you would be ready,” he offered kindly. “I guess we’ll both have to be content as stand-ins for now.”

“At least you’re actually related to the girl,” Delia added after a moment.

“Related?” he countered, feeling a little uneasy.

“Come on, with that face? I know you’re a blood relation to Noonien Soong in some way. That sort of makes you related,” she explained lightheartedly.

“Oh, right,” he said with a nervous laugh. “Wait...how much do you know about Zoe’s father?”

Her burnt umber eyes met his blue as she gave it some thought. “I know that he was a troubled, misunderstood man,” she said with a frown. “Although...I guess he was technically an android and not a man. Which honestly always confuses me and I can’t really figure out where Zoe came from. I also know that he was a criminal; accused of murder and other horrible things. But from the way Zoe talks about him I’m not sure that he was really all that bad.”

Lore was still missing all of his memories from this period of his life and didn’t know much more about who he was during that time than she did. Stories of a stollen chip and having a god complex. He found it endearing that she wouldn’t just dismiss him as the sum of his misdeeds, but would consider who he had been as person.

“Delia, what if I told you that Zoe isn’t completely human?” he said in hushed tones. He was starting to feel as though he could trust her.

“Oh, Earl, I know that she’s not. No three year old girl I’ve even known had a vocabulary like hers; not to mention her artistic ability,” she said unfazed. “Besides she weighs so much more than she should for a little girl her size.”

Lore watched the exotic woman’s face for a moment. She was certainly more than he was expecting from his brief interactions over the communication transmissions. Even at his daughter’s birthday party they had shared nothing but polite small talk.

“It doesn’t bother you?” he asked with fascination. His newly recovered memories were filled with misunderstandings and prejudice against artificial life—against him in particular—that he was intrigued by her openness to the idea.

“Bother me? What, that she’s this amazing combination of technological achievement and human genetics? Should it?” she rebutted as she leaned in closer to him.

“And what do you think of Data? Does he pique your interest as well?” he inquired as though to test how honest she was being.

“Data is a very...” Delia began and hesitated. She looked away as though embarrassed. “I like him just fine.”

“Whoa...go back. What just happened?” he asked, suddenly intrigued. He could tell that she was leaving out something very important.

“Nothing. Nothing happened,” she assured him as she continued to focus elsewhere.

“Don’t tell me you slept with him?” he muttered.

“What? No! Of course not!” she snapped a little louder than intended. “I just thought that maybe there was something starting between us, but then Wesley came home and he won’t stop staring at her. I feel quite foolish about it, okay,” she confessed.

“So, you never did anything romantic, or physical with him?” he questioned to be sure. He hated how everyone seemed to prefer his brother these days.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no I did not,” she reiterated, quickly picking up on his jealous attitude.

“But you wanted to,” he commented to himself as he studied her beautiful, emerald features. 

“So?” she said simply as she realized that he was paying her more attention than she was comfortable with. “Oh please...just because you happen to share a very similar physical appearance doesn’t mean that I’m transferring my attraction for him to you.”

“Good. I would hate that,” Lore smirked. “I would much rather you enjoy my company because of who I am and not because of who Data is.”

Delia gave him a coy look and blushed; the deep rosy hue complimenting her green toned skin. She was enjoying his company and she was happy that he wasn’t being predatory like he could have been; like most men were with her. He was a bit awkward and sweet. 

“Who are you, Earl?” she asked softly as she lightly touched his arm. “I mean, you’re like some sort of enticing mystery. A voice in the darkness suddenly made flesh. Your eyes are so deep and lonely that I could get lost in them forever.”

The synthetic man felt his pulse quicken and body temperature rise; heat radiating from the point of contact where her hand lingered in his forearm. This woman was saying all things he’d longed to hear from Wesley and to his surprise he was open to her invitation.

“I would love to tell you all my secrets one day,” he purred as he leaned closer. “Maybe once we know each other a little better.”

Just then the bartender arrived to see if Delia was interested in placing an order. Neither of them looked in Guinan’s direction .

“Sorry to interrupt, but can I get you anything this evening, Ms. Ashton?” she asked politely as she observed their strong pull towards one another.

“No thank you, Guinan,” Delia hummed as gave her companion’s arm a squeeze.

“Earl, anything else for you?” Guinan added, although she was pretty sure he already had what he wanted.

“No thanks. I think we’ll be leaving shortly,” he commented as his smile broadened.

The two arrived at Delia’s sparse quarters. She had a one room setup with no devision between her bed and the rest of her living space. Lore was a little hesitant as he let her lead the way inside. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was suddenly feeling so anxious.

Delia seemed to pick up on his discomfort and in an effort to put him more at ease she came back towards him and gave him a tentative kiss on the lips. The human looking android smiled into her mouth and laughed nervously.

“What’s so funny?” she teased playfully.

Lore pulled away a little so that he could look her in the eye. “Would you believe me if I told you that I don’t exactly remember kissing many women before?” he asked her shyly. 

He had kissed Wesley once recently and had some broken memories of being affectionate with his supposed wife, but nothing else particularly insightful. 

The woman laughed a little at his question. “You mean ever?”

“Don’t misunderstand me...I’m sure that I have, but I’m still a little fuzzy with most of my memories,” he explained.

“Hmmm...does that mean this would feel like a first for you?” she wondered, the idea making her want him all the more. She kissed him again, this time much more intensely. Then she let her arms encircle is neck as she pressed her body against him.

Lore was beginning to think that she wasn’t just talking about kissing anymore. A small part of him was feeling hurt from the knowledge that Wesley had so easily given herself to his brother. However, he wasn’t completely convinced that giving into Delia was going to make him feel better.

He pulled back from her reach and looked away. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” he murmured, slightly ashamed.

Delia decided to try a different approach. While his gaze was averted she quickly undid the zip of her sheath dress and let it fall to the floor. Just as Lore took notice of her movement and looked back, she was unfastening her bra. Earl found himself staring at her beautiful, shapely breasts. He had a sudden memory of Lee in her night dress that first time they were together. He didn’t actually see her naked body until he caught her skinny dipping. At the time she had been a thin little thing with barely anything to look at. Delia was a goddess by comparison and he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to have a taste of her firm, bountiful flesh.

The half-Orion watched with baited breath as the man slowly licked his lips. She could see his eyes begin to dilate; the blue becoming almost completely black. She noticed that he seemed to be fighting himself as to whether or not he should touch her. So she helped him out by taking one if his elegant hands and placing it on her left breast. Lore’s breath caught as he indulged in the new sensation.

Then Delia hungrily claimed his mouth again. She could feel his erection rub against her. He was beginning to lose control and he moaned obscenely as he thrust his hips against his will. Lore tried to steady himself by using his free hand to hold her hip.

Another memory hit him; his fingers pressing into Lee’s hip under her nightshirt. He abruptly jumped back from Delia as though she was on fire. His breath was shaky, as was the rest of him. Somewhere in the back of his positronic mind he knew that he should remain faithful to Wesley, but he couldn’t help being seduced by the immediacy of this new woman.

That’s when he realized that was all this was to her; a seduction. As the siren tried to make physical contact again, he gagged and moved further away from her.

“What the hell was that?” she blurted, quite offended.

“You’re so beautiful, but I think I’m gonna be sick,” he muttered as he found refuge in a nearby chair. He was almost doubled over, trembling from feedback and revulsion.

“You only feel sick because you’re having second thoughts,” she soothed as she knelt on the floor beside him in only her underwear. “I want to be with you, Lore. You’ve never looked so gorgeous and lifelike.”

The android’s brain was over-firing. He was so entranced by the half-Orion beauty and what she was doing to his body—good and bad—that he wasn’t sure if he’d heard her correctly.

“What?” he panted as tried to focus. “Did you just call me ‘Lore’?”

“I know all about your ‘affection clause’; but you don’t have to worry about it. You and I used to know each other. You can trust me,” she said with affection.

His face became a mask of confusion. “You know me?” he asked his voice rough and full of hurt.

“Please don’t be upset. I’m the one who should be hurt,” she told him with understanding. “Not that you remember, but you left me when your creator recalled you. You were suddenly too important to come back to me; hell bent on making your brother pay for ignoring you, or something. You thought you were a nut job today...today was nothing compared to a few years back when you absolutely lost your mind.”

“No...no..that can’t be true. I don’t remember you,” he said adamantly as he sat up and stared down at her. Not that he remembered going insane either. “I think I would remember you.”

“Don’t worry, I understand. Dr. Soong broke you and then your unfeeling brother locked you up for crimes that you had no control over committing,” she said softly before leaning up and kissing him again.

“Wait...what?” he blurted into her mouth, as he fought off another reflexive gag.

Delia sighed and sat back on her heels. “Lore, you don’t have to pretend that you don’t remember who you are,” she said nervously.

“I hate to break it to you, Delia—if that is in fact your real name—but this is no act. Until this afternoon I had little to no memory of my life. I still don’t remember a great deal and I may never be able to.”

“But the way you were looking at Wesley...at Data...you seemed to be so aware fo who they are,” she lamented.

“Look, just back up a little. Did you invite me here just to test me?” he asked with rising panic. 

Delia stood and walked over to her bed to grab a robe. “Lore...Earl...whoever you are,” she told him sincerely as she covered herself. “I want to be with you and yes, my name is Delia Ashton.”

“And you aren’t angry that I don’t know who you are?” he added still unconvinced.

“No, hopefully you will...in time,” she said with some hesitation.

“Why are you here? I mean, on the Enterprise?” 

“Because it was a big deal when you were destroyed by that psycho, Maddox. Then I became aware of Zoe...I was already a nurse, so I offered my services to the family.”

“I told you about Zoe, didn’t I?” On some level he was sure that he had since he knew that he had a deep seeded drive to reconnect with his daughter, something he suspected wasn’t new.

“Yep,” she said with another sultry laugh.

“What did I tell you about Lee?” he dared to ask.

“That she had been the love of your life, but she’d betrayed you,” she told him plainly. “You honestly weren’t sure if she was alive, or dead and I made sure you that continued to not care.”

“So now what?” he blurted with dismay.

“I wasn’t sure if you would be receptive to me after this afternoon,” she confessed with a shrug of her lovely bare shoulder. “Turns out you aren’t really.”

“And Zoe?” He asked with importance as he stood and moved towards.

“I honestly had no ill intentions. I found myself missing you and thought that maybe I could honour your memory by taking care of your daughter,” she said a pained tone that seemed to convey that she was telling the truth.

“Really?” The human looking android found himself wanting to believe her. His sense of urgency and fear dissipating. 

“I am a little worried that she was doing much better before her mother came home,” Delia confided. “Do you think you might want to take Zoe back with you?”

Earl hadn’t even had such a thought before now. “How did you feel when I showed up here? Did you already suspect who I was before I walked into that party?”

“I’m gonna be honest...I saw you in the hall before I got the party. In fact, their kitten got out of the bedroom because I rushed into the bathroom. I was so nauseous I thought I was going to be ill; if that gives you any indication,” she confessed.

He was starting to relax, knowing that deep down she was as nervous as he was. “I wish I could remember you,” he whispered longingly as he touched her face. Thankfully he didn’t react badly to their contact this time.

“We met on Dargis III. I had been working with the relief effort in the southern continent...there was a refuge colony there for those displaced by the civil war. You were trying to find a guy who could give you something,” she explained as she took his hand. “I can’t recall if it was an object, or information. Either way you never never found him.”

“I guess I found you instead,” he surmised with a smirk. “So you really are a wonderful, healing person,” he teased. “What the hell were you doing with me?”

“What can I say? You struck me as a misunderstood misfit...a bad boy with a heart of gold,” she said in earnest. Then she tried to kiss him again, but he turned his head.

“Somehow this doesn’t feel right,” he whispered, unsure of himself. “Even when I remembered nothing about Lee I still felt something.” 

Delia took his other hand as though to stop him from retreating any further. “Then why don’t we start fresh? Every relationship starts one moment at a time? Can’t this be our moment?” She waxed poetically.

He would have laughed, but he wanted to believe her. He had seen the connection between Wesley and Data and felt as though he had already lost her.

“Sure, Delia,” he conceded. “One moment at a time.”

.....


	12. Losing the Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don’t want to give anything away about this one. You’ll just have to read it.

Wesley was standing in her quarters as the golden android entered without invitation. He gave her an unexpected, flirtatious smile. She couldn’t help but blush as his eyes dragged over her body in a suggestive, almost lurid way. 

“Data, stop it,” she said as she began to feel more than a little uncomfortable. “Look I’m just getting something to eat and then I’m going right back to bed...doctor’s orders,” she told defensively. He didn’t seem to be swayed by her words and he continued to make eyes at her. “Why are you acting so weird?”

“Weird? Strange I thought you liked it when men looked at you this way,” he teased a bit harsher than she’d been expecting.

“Excuse me?” she retorted with obvious confusion. “What is going on with you?”

This time he didn’t answer her with words. He suddenly pulled her to him and claimed her mouth. Their was something animalistic about his need and she wasn’t entirely sure this was Data anymore.

“Lore?” she panted when he finally gave her a moment to catch her breath.

“Hmmm...looks like your dirty mouth is better at telling us apart than your eyes,” he mused.

She gave him an odd look. The entire time he’d been on the Enterprise—had been ‘Earl’—he’d looked human. She felt a bubble of panic rise in her chest at the fact that he now looked just like Data again.

“Why do you look like that?” she questioned unnerved.

“All the better to make my escape. I’ll switch back again once I’m in the clear,” he explained with a wink.

Wesley was left at a loss. Lore was no longer a wanted criminal. In fact as long as he continued to keep up his human facade he could be Erol Hahn and go anywhere.

“What are you talking about? I thought you were going home to Juliana?” she questioned slowly as though not to make any sudden movements.

“Sure, maybe...but I don’t want to go alone. You should come with me. You know you don’t belong here anymore,” Lore replied with a cold edge.

“This is my home,” she began to say in response but he cut her off.

“Not anymore...I’m your home. I can protect you and Zoe from Starfleet. How can you be willing to risk them taking her away from us?” he ranted with distress. “We don’t have to go Atrea IV. We can go anywhere.”

“Lore, stop it. These people aren’t just my ship-mates. They’re my family and they will do everything to ensure our safety.”

“No they won’t. They let you get arrested and sent to detention. Remember what happened to me? I died because of Starfleet and it’s disregard for its own laws and directives.”

“Starfleet wasn’t behind what happened to you,” she assured him.

“Open your eyes, Lee. They don’t actually care about you. They’ve already given away your place to someone else. What are you going to do, marry my sap of a brother and be satisfied with any little drop of attention he sends your way?”

“Stop it. Just because you can remember some things now, doesn’t mean you know everything.”

“I want Zoe with me and I know she wants to be with me too,” he said very insistently.

“I’m her mother,” Wesley blurted. “She needs to stay with me.”

“But I’m more like her than you are. Stay with Data and have his defective spawn. Let me take Zoe!”

She staggered a little and had to sit down. She wasn’t sure if he’d found out about the new pregnancy or if he was just thinking in the abstract. “Never, Lore. I won’t let you twist her into a hateful monster,” she snapped coldly.

“You didn’t think I was so hateful and monstrous before...when you fell in love with me,” he snapped back full of hurt. 

“You’re not the same now. I wish you could go back to being that sweet gentle man who talked with Zoe about music and plants,” she told him.

Lore made a fist and hit the wall. “That man was pathetic!” he raged.

“That man was good and kind and loving!” she cried.

“He was a loser! You wouldn’t even kiss me properly. You pitied me!”

“No, I was afraid to let myself believe you were real,” she countered passionately.

The synthetic man reached out and violently grabbed her by the hair. “Is this real enough, Wes!?” Then he forced her stand and hauled her over to the bedroom. He threw her onto the bed and she clutched at her stomach.

“Lore, please,” she begged. When he used her other name she knew all bets were off. She could no longer tell what he was thinking. He looked so worked up that he could be ready to rape her, or murder her, or worse—whatever that might be.

“Tell me I can leave with Zoe—that means you tell all your little friends that you approve and no one comes after me,” he growled in face as she continued to fall apart.

“I can’t,” she sobbed.

“Then I’m afraid that you’ve left me no choice,” Lore told her as he pulled a knife out of his boot. “I’ll just take my second born...hope she’s been in the oven long enough,” he snarked without feeling.

Wesley’s eyes went wide as she realized what he was talking about. “You’re mad,” she muttered as she tried to sober to his harsh reality.

“What can I say, Wes? You have that affect on me,” he said with a cruel smirk. Then he backhanded her so quickly she didn’t see it coming. She didn’t lose consciousness but came close.

“Don’t worry I’ll make it quick,” he whispered into her ear. Then he kissed her lips and tenderly caressed her cheek where a welt was already forming. He readied the blade and pressed it against her stomach.

Suddenly an excruciating, stabbing pain burned through her unconscious mind. Startling her awake.

“Lore, no!” Wesley screamed as she lashed out blindly with her hands.

Alarms went on the machines in Sickbay as she thrashed around. Luckily Data was dutifully by her side and holding her from leaping off the bio bed.

“Wesley wake up,” he told her with importance. “It is a nightmare. You are in Sickbay. You are safe.”

Doctor Crusher rushed over with a hypospray at the ready. “I don’t really want to sedate her if I don’t have to, but her blood pressure’s through the roof.”

“Wesley please wake up,” Data pleaded. He hadn’t witnessed her so enveloped in a night terror since the night before she had jumped back in time.

The woman abruptly opened her eyes. She looked as though she might scream again, but collapsed into fitful sobs instead. “Data...Data it was so awful,” she cried.

The android adjusted his hold on her so that he could hug her to him properly. She had been in Sickbay for three days and her condition wasn’t improving the way they had hoped it would. 

“You are safe now. No harm will come to you,” he soothed, though he wasn’t sure that he believed what he was saying.

She slowly quieted once more and lay back down. She continued to keep her eyes on him as she drifted back to sleep.

Beverly sat down next to him and shook her head. “I can’t let this continue. I have to do what’s best for my patient,” she said with heavy heart.

“The unborn fetus is also your patient, Doctor,” he reminded her.

“Data enough. My daughter is dying. I can’t in good conscience let her continue this pregnancy. I’m sorry. It’s over; I’ve made my mind up,” she told him unwavering in her resolve.

“Then I request that you give the child to me and allow me to attempt to save it once it has been safely removed,” he said with determination of his own.

“Of course. If you can stabilize it by artificial means I’m all for it, but we’re done pretending that Dr. Soong’s second attempt at synthetic reproductive DNA was anywhere as good as his first,” she told him sternly.

“Agreed,” he conceded.

The next time Wesley woke up Deanna was by her side. She hadn’t seen her friend look so sad in quite sometime. In fact she was getting an odd sense of déjà vu from when she’d woken at the medical institute on Omicron Theta.

“What happened?” she asked, still groggy from the anesthetic. “Why do I feel so weird?”

“Wes just try to stay calm,” the empath told her softly. “You and the baby were failing. Your mother had to make a quick decision. I’m sorry, but she terminated your pregnancy.”

“No!” Wesley cried as she clutched her stomach. “She had no right to do that.”

“Wes, you were dying. She had to what was necessary,” Deanna said with shared distress. “Data is trying to save the child, but I don’t know how successful he’s been.”

“You mean it might still be alive?” she asked in disbelief.

“It might be...but we don’t know just yet,” her friend clarified.

......

After a couple of days in the dark, Lore decided that he needed some answers. He was avoiding Delia all together and knew he should be on his way back to Juliana, but something wasn’t sitting right with him. Wesley was still in Sickbay and no one was giving him any details. So he went to one woman he thought might have the information he needed. 

Robin opened the door with her son in her arms. She gave the human looking android a wary once over as she tried to decide whether or not to allow him into her quarters.

“Look, Robin,” Lore began as he tried to find the right words. He was fairly certain that she was the pregnant friend that Wesley had talked about all those years ago; the one that always seemed so important to her. “I know you love Wesley. Can’t you find it in your heart to tell me what is really going on?”

Robin narrowed her brown eyes at him as she thought about what he said. “You just called her Wesley...I thought you didn’t do that,” she said tersely as she continued to stand in the doorway.

“Oh for pity’s sake,” he lamented. “You get to have your happy family why can’t I have mine?”

“Because you’re a liar and a criminal,” she rebutted unmoved by his plea. “Besides, it’s all your fault that she’s sick in the first place.”

“I know, I know,” he huffed with exasperation, “I let her believe I was dead. To be fair, I was.”

“No that’s not...” The woman stopped short as she realized that maybe ‘Earl’ didn’t know what was happening for a reason.

“That’s not what?” he questioned calmly as he gave her a funny look. “That’s not why she’s sick?”

“Look...I can’t say anything. You should go,” she said firmly as she let the door close in his face.

Lore leaned on the wall beside the door as he stared at his shaky, misbehaving hands. The android was trying to think of what could be wrong with Wesley. He did his best to review the fragments of memories he had regained thanks the repair that Geordi made. He was still limited to the memories from before Dr. Soong deactivated him on Omicron Theta, but it was enough for him to try and recall if he had ever seen her so ill in the past. 

His current condition was proving too distracting. So he took a steadying breath as he remembered the advice Wesley had given him about reciting lyrics or poetry. He began muttering to himself as he continued his efforts to literal calm down and cool his processors. 

“If these shadows have offended; Think but this, and all is mended,” he said slowly as he came back to more functional level. Something struck him about the passage. Something vaguely off-putting. “That you have but slumbered here; While these visions did appear...Holy fuck!” 

Lore suddenly remembered why the passage bothered him. His simple brother had recited it to Lee when she was unwell. He hit the chime beside the door and Robin reappeared in the open doorway and frowned at him. 

“She’s pregnant!” he yelled with dismay.

The brunette scowled at him and pulled him inside. “Keep your voice down!”

“The last time she was this unwell it was my fault too, but I didn’t know it,” he said adamantly as he began pacing in her main living area.

“But this time you did know,” she said coldly as she watched him freeze in place.

“No I didn’t,” he said with a pained expression. “Did I?”

“Yes you did. You did this to her on purpose this time...or at least the ‘Lore before he lost his memory’ did,” she rambled.

“Oh God,” he said as he pathetically flopped into a nearby chair, “I’m a monster.”

“Yes, you are,” she said dramatically feeling as though he deserved it.

“She has to stop it. It could kill her,” he said with importance as he stood again. Then he marched past the young mother and back out her door.

“Damn it,” Robin cursed as she shifted Jayden in her arms. She went over to the wall comm and tapped it. “Lt. Lefler to Comdr Data,” she said as evenly as possible.

“Data here.”

“We have a problem. I sort of let Earl know something that I probably shouldn’t have,” she grumbled.

“Oh, that is a problem,” Data noted with concern. “I will handle Earl. Thank you for letting me know.”

“Of course, Lefler out,” she said with another heavy sigh before muttering to herself, “Damn it Crusher, you really do need to fix your life.”

.....

Lore started to make his way to Sickbay but was stopped by Delia Ashton. He tried to ignore her and move around her, but she seemed to know which way he was going each time he tried to side-step her. 

“No disrespect, Delia, but move the fuck out of my way,” he blurted rudely.

“Earl, what’s wrong? Why are you acting so strangely?” she asked unnerved by how out of character he was behaving.

“I need to see Lee and you aren’t going to stop me,” he informed her. Then he finally pushed her aside. 

The half-Orion was determined to follow him and kept up just behind. “I thought you told Data that you were going to go home today?” she called after him.

“Well, that was before I realized that everyone was lying to me,” he shot back over his shoulder.

As they entered the turbolift, Delia put a hand on his shoulder. He gave her a look before knocking it away.

“Sickbay,” Lore instructed the computer. The lift doors closed and he turned towards Delia. He looked as though he was going to say something, but didn’t.

“Computer hold turbolift,” Delia commended.

The human looking android fumed at her audacity to try and slow him down. “Did my brother send you to stop me?”

“Excuse me? Your brother?” she asked with obvious confusion.

Lore winced as he thought he made a mistake; which he hadn’t. He was finding it harder and harder to keep track of who knew what and what memories were old and which were from his new life as Earl. It was proving to be more than he was ready to juggle, especially now that he had Wesley to worry about.

“Data,” he said a little more calmly. “Did Data send you to distract me?”

“No Lore, Data didn’t send me to distract you,” she sweetly.

“Oh, good,” he said just as calmly, though he still didn’t trust her.

She smiled demurely up at him and took his arm. He knew that he had conceded to exploring what was between them, but today she was a nuisance. 

“Whatever this is, stop it. I don’t have time for your games,” he said dismissively as he pulled away from her grasp. “Computer resume lift.”

“Computer belay that order,” she said almost as quickly. The computer chirped a couple fo times but they stayed put.

Everything in him screamed to knock her out to stop her from speaking, but he couldn’t move to raise his hand to her. He looked down and found that he was shaking again.

“What’s wrong?” She asked innocently as she watched his hands tremble. 

“Nothing,” he said quietly. “Why do you keep stopping the lift?”

“Because your obsession is unhealthy and you need to stop trying to make Wesley see you as her dead husband,” she said flatly.

He wanted to ring her neck and shout that he was her dead husband, but suddenly he felt eerily calm. He was growing concerned that maybe that Maddox guy had neutered him somehow. He wished he could remember what had happened and hated that he was so oblivious.

“My life is none of your concern,” he said in response instead. 

“I thought we connected? I thought you wanted to see what was between us?” she questioned casually as she let her hands run up his arms and encircle his neck. 

Lore was caught off guard by her forward behaviour and he gaped at her. Suddenly Delia claimed his opened mouth with hers and pulled at his lower lip with her teeth. For a moment he was aroused, then that moment passed and he gagged.

Delia took a very notable step back from him. “Seriously!” she cried with offence.

“Stop kissing me and I’ll stop retching,” he said with a frown. “Now release the lift, or I will most definitely be sick.”

Delia moved all the way over until her shoulder bumped the wall. Then she called for the lift to resume.

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers: Don’t worry things work out.


	13. The Marsupial Android

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title gives it away...yep Data kind of ends up pregnant...yep it happens. You can thank my bizarre brain.

Data was in the cybernetics lab when he got the call from Robin alerting him to his brother’s renewed desire to see Wesley. Knowing that her life was no longer in danger helped him worry a little less about Lore finding out about the truth behind her illness. He did pass on the message to Doctor Crusher before turning his attention back to the task at hand.

“Geordi, you should return to Robin and your own child,” Data said sadly as he continued to monitor the tiny synthetic being that was struggling to function. She was situated in a modified incubation unit they had taken from Sickbay. She was so small that she could fit in the palm of the android’s hand. She was listless and not very responsive, which made it difficult to tell if she could even be classified as alive.

The engineer heard his friend’s remark, but chose to stay. “Data how can I go home to Jayden knowing this little one might not make it if we don’t come up with some fast?” he lamented but he refused to give up. “It’s a miracle that she’s still with us at all. If she were a biological child she surely wouldn’t be.”

Then Geordi reached through one the protective sleeves and made physical contact with tiny infant. She was cold to the touch and he hoped that was just a side effect of her synthetic nature and not something to worry about. “What if we transferred her into another womb?” Geordi wondered. “Do you think she would thrive, or be just as deficient as she is now?”

“I do not know that she would fair any better. It would seem that something is missing. Something is lacking to encourage her to develop properly,” the android observed. He had his doubts that a purely artificial body would continue to grow and evolve. “I believe you are correct in your observation. She appears to not have any biological components at all.”

“Data...what about the other sample?” Geordi asked with new found enthusiasm. “What if we used it to infuse her with more of what she might need to progress?”

“If it is the same as what created her it may not have any benefit,” he rebutted unconvinced of that it could make any difference.

“Yeah, but what if it works like the regenerator, or when it jump starts the chain reaction of cell devision at conception; only instead of starting from scratch it would simply boost her current stage of development. You know, like stem cell treatment.”

“That is an interesting theory, however it will take time to create such an infusion,” Data countered. “Time that she does not have.”

“If we don’t have time then why not just literally inject her with it? If she’s already failing what difference will it make? What harm could it do?” Geordi pressed.

“The sample is in my quarters. I have locked it in the safe under my workstation,” Data told him, though he refused to get his hopes up. In fact he suddenly longed for a time when he didn’t know how it felt to have any hope, or grief, or regret.

“Great. Keep her going until I get back,” his friend said with a firm resolve as he ran from the cybernetics lab.

When Geordi returned with the canister he found Data deep in contemplation. The android had created a very bizarre diagram on the projection screen. It took the engineer a moment to discern what it was. 

“That’s a crazy idea you’ve come up with,” he said with raised brows.

“Ah good, Geordi. Do you have the sample?” Data asked. His friend noted how upbeat the android sounded and wasn’t sure if he would be able to talk him out of doing what it was he was trying to do.

“Data...you weren’t designed to do that,” he warned.

“Do not worry. I would not be altering my systems and appearance except to accommodate the incubation unit. Essentially taking the child with me where ever I go instead of isolating her here in the lab,” Data explained as he blew up the diagram so that his friend could get a better understanding.

“Yeah, that just looks like you want to create a womb,” he retorted skeptically.

“Not exactly. I would be more like a father seahorse, or a marsupial’s pouch,” the android clarified.

“Nah, Data...if this baby is going to continue to grow and develop you need a way to feed it. You’ll need some kind of umbilical hook up,” Geordi clarified. “That makes it more like a pregnancy.”

“I had not considered that important point. I could bypass my own digestive tract to connect with hers. I almost never take in supplementation, however it would be beneficial for her if I did,” said Data after giving it some more consideration.

“Do you really think this is necessary?” he asked to be sure that his android friend had considered every option, which he most likely had.

“Yes, I do. Oona will need constant care and monitoring. If Wesley is no longer able to perform this task—and it is believed that any other biological intervention will not improve her development—I believe this is our best option.”

“Well then let’s get to it...for Oona,” Geordi conceded with a nervous laugh. He couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the android had already bonded with the tiny, sickly infant enough to warrant giving her a name.

Data sat himself on the work table and quickly removed his shirt and undershirt. Once Geordi gathered the tools he needed he found himself staring at his android friend as he waited for him to lie out so he could get started.

“What is it?” asked Geordi as he continued to regard his friend.

“Nothing,” said Data as he looked away and lay down. 

“It’s something,” pressed the engineer as he studied the schematics and prepared to make his first incision. 

“I only wished to thank you for your assistance. I know you have more than enough responsibilities at this time,” muttered Data,

“I know I’ve been spending all my free time with Robin and Jayden...” he began to say when the android stopped him.

“As you should be. They are your family.”

“You’re my family too, Data,” Geordi told him with a smile. He knew that he shouldn’t feel guilty for neglecting their friendship, but he did. “Now, I’m gonna need a little help in figuring out what I’m doing.”

“Of course,” Data replied.

.....

“How is she?” Beverly asked with concern as she brought Deanna into her office for a quick chat.

“She’s distraught,” the empath said with a pained expression. “I don’t know what else I can do for her until we know how the infant faired.”

“I very much doubt they could save it. Maybe you could go down to the lab and find out, though. Give Wes some closure,” the doctor asked with a heavy heart.

“I think I will,” Deanna said in agreement. “How is Zoe doing?”

Beverly smiled weakly and tried to stay neutral. “She’s thrilled to be spending so much time with her father—if you can call Earl her father,” she explained. “I’m happy that she appears to be none the wiser to how horrible things are for her mother, but I feel badly at the same time. At least Delia is with them most of the time; keeping an eye on him.”

“Beverly, did Delia ever mention any connection to Lore to you?” Deanna wondered thoughtfully.

“No, why?” Beverly retorted with alarm.

“It’s just this feeling I noticed with her. It was subtle at first, but over the last few days it seems as though she’s had a stronger pull towards him. It doesn’t strike me as completely affectionate.”

“That sounds a little frightening. Do you think I should intervene and keep them from being alone with Zoe?”

“I’m not sure. It’s not as though I sense any kind of deception, exactly, but maybe it would be worth confronting them about it at some point,” the Counsellor noted.

As the two women came out of the small office they discovered that Wesley was sitting up and removing removing her own IV.

“Just where do you think you’re going?” Beverly demanded as she stood in front of her daughter to stop her.

“I can’t sit here any longer. I need to know what’s happening,” she replied weakly. The younger woman was still quite pale and not quite well enough to go off on her own.

“Deanna was just about to go and do that for you. You need to lie back down and let me take care of you,” her mother informed her.

“Mom, I’m fine,” she insisted, though clearly she wasn’t.

“No you certainly are not. You may be stubborn and relentless, but you are not fine,” the doctor countered with exasperation. “Now lie down and stop being ridiculous.”

Wesley huffed in annoyance and did as she was told. Deanna gave them both a laboured smile before taking her leave.

Lore passed the empath as he entered Sickbay. He looked ready for a fight and Beverly moved aside to let him see her daughter without a word.

As he sat down his temper seemed to deflate. Whatever misunderstanding there had been between them no longer felt important. Wesley could tell that this synthetic man was more Lore than stranger now. She could see it in his body language and, more importantly, in his eyes. 

“You look awful,” Lore whispered as he took his beloved in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” she asked as she continued to enjoy his attention and let her head rest on his shoulder. Her mother shrugged, but remained close by in case she was needed.

“I just figured out what happened,” he said with regret. “Why didn’t someone tell me what an asshole I was to you?”

Beverly opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it when Wesley shot her a disparaging look.

“You probably thought you’d get a jump start on our second honeymoon,” she mused with a weak smile to try to make him feel better. It was only fair since he’d been so understanding about her indiscretion with his brother.

“Don’t do that. I deserve to be hated,” he said plainly. “I deserve to thrown back in jail for what I did to you.”

“I know you might not remember all the details, but what you and I did was far from criminal.” Then she wasn’t sure about his statement about jail. “Do you remember being in prison?”

“No, but Juliana made sure to tell me about about it so I would understand the importance of behaving as human as possible.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

“Are you alright?” he asked still unsure if she was.

“I will be,” she whispered as she held onto him again.

“And the baby?” he dared to ask.

“We don’t know yet,” replied Beverly, seeing that her daughter was too upset to reply herself.

“Is it with Data?” he asked the doctor. When she nodded he felt a little relieved. “Data will know what to do. He always was more technologically inclined than I was.”

Wesley nodded mutely as she tried not to sob.

“My poor, Lee.”

“Earl...if you’re here and Data’s with Geordi...and Deanna’s gone to check on things...” Beverly rambled as she tried to keep a cool head.

“Zoe’s in preschool with Mr. VanBaal,” he told her easily, actually having an answer for once.

“Oh good,” the older woman said with relief of her own. She didn’t know if she still wanted Delia watching her granddaughter. At least not until she had some clarity about her past. Then another question about the past came to her. “Earl...I honestly had no idea that you were you and not related to Juliana. Are you sure that you’re the only Erol Hahn?”

“Why would I know?” he grumbled.

“Maybe we should ask Juliana,” offered Wesley as she lay back down. She suddenly felt the need to rest again.

“Easier said than done,” muttered Lore with a frown. “I don’t think she’ll be too happy about my decision to leave her.”

“I suppose you’ll be staying on the Enterprise for awhile longer,” Beverly surmised. From the way he was behaving with her daughter it would be more of a shock if he left now than if he stayed.

“If you don’t mind?” he asked, the question directed at Wesley. She managed to shake her head and squeeze his hand. 

“Please stay.” She knew she was being selfish, but didn’t care.

That was all he needed to hear. He continued to hold her hand as watched her drift off to sleep. “I knew you needed someone to look after you,” he mused to himself.

......

When the empath arrived outside of the cybernetics lab she was confused by the merriment she sensed inside. As she came through the door she was met with a very strange scene. Data was sitting on the work table. He was shirtless and Geordi was pressing the android’s exposed belly button. Deanna gave them a look of confusion. She wasn’t even aware that Data had a belly button.

“What on Earth are you two doing?” she asked a little louder than she meant to. “Where’s the baby?”

Geordi and Data gave each other an auspicious look. Then they both looked at their colleague in an almost guilty fashion.

“The baby is in an incubation unit that we specially designed for her,” Data said plainly.

Deanna glanced around the room and couldn’t find any evidence of any such unit. She folded her arms in front of her chest. She was waiting for someone to give her more information.

“Yeah, the unit is inside of Data,” Geordi confessed sheepishly.

“It’s where?” the empath blurted in disbelief.

“After much deliberation it was felt that Oona would benefit most from an environment where she could safely continue to grow and develop. Since she was in need of constant care and synthetic nourishment I had Geordi assist me in constructing a unit fitted to my own frame.”

“So now Data’s carrying the child around so that she can complete her gestation,” the engineer added.

“So the two of you transferred the baby inside of Data? So now Data is pregnant?” Deanna surmised with a hysterical bark of laughter. “That’s a little unorthodox.”

“Yes, however, it was a logical, reasonable solution. We have connected the baby directly into my neural net. I now know what she needs and how much and when to give it her. I will know how she is developing and growing and when she will be ready to be removed from the unit,” Data rambled.

“Oh, well that’s actually quite clever,” the woman commented after digesting all that he was saying. “But I thought she was failing?”

“She was, however Geordi theorized that we could boost her overall wellbeing by adding the remaining synthetic procreative matter to assist in her and essential increase her chances of survival,” the android explained further.

“So far its seems to be working. Her vitals have jumped in the last hour alone,” Geordi added with grin.

“Let me get this straight...this child is basically an android that will go through every stage of human development and unlike Zoe it has no biological aspects?” she surmised with a questioning air.

“That is correct, Deanna,” Data told her with a bright smile. “She too will be unique. Although perhaps more susceptible to the pitfalls of any other Soong-type android. She may be more prone to cascade failure than her sister.”

“That means we really have to tread lightly and agree to keep her true nature fairly quiet,” Geordi noted gravely.

“But I can tell Wes that the infant still has a chance? She really needs to know,” Deanna pressed.

“Yes, I believe that it is safe to tell her. We are satisfied that she is stable,” Data added as he stood from the table.

Deanna couldn’t help but come around to examine him. The android really didn’t look that different, not that she’d ever really observed him in the nude before. His abdomen didn’t seem to be distended, or full.

“She’s really in there?” she asked quietly as she dared to press her hand against Data’s bare midriff.

“Yep. Snug as a bug,” commented Geordi. 

“Of course she may require more space as she grows. I was thinking of making an effort to express my desire to know what it is like to acquire a more rubenesque physique,” Data told her very seriously.

“You mean you plan to tell the crew that you want to become overweight on purpose? That’s absurd,” Deanna replied with a chuckle.

“No more absurd than when Data grew a beard, or dyed his hair,” Geordi offered with a shrug.

“Those were simple, unoffencive cosmetic alterations. If you suddenly gain weight and say it’s an experiment people might get offended. Why don’t we say that you’re new experience of sympathetic depression has caused you to eat your feelings and put on weight.”

Data gave the Counsellor an odd look. “I am not depressed.”

“Yes, but Wesley is...and you spend much of your time with her,” Deanna added.

“Right. And when news of her failed pregnancy circulates no one will dare to ask you about your personal involvement,” Geordi said with a nod.

“So...if anyone asks...I have developed a food addiction?” the android surmised after a moment.

“You will be eating much more than anyone is used to seeing,” the engineer reminded him.

“Fine, whatever is the most believable and least deceptive excuse.”

Deanna smiled and tried not to laugh. Both Geordi and Data gave her an expectant look since their tones had been quite serious a moment before. 

“I’m sorry. I just find it quite whimsical and lovely that Geordi was the one to help you with your dream of procreation, Data,” she mused.

“Technically it was Wesley, however,” Data said and then paused as he regarded his friend. He realized that she was right. In his way his best friend had helped him save Oona from becoming a lost cause. “I suppose you are correct.”

Geordi knew it was all perspective and just because he had the skills and know-how to help Data didn’t mean he was now involved on some higher level of importance. “Yeah well, just consider me like an android physician,” Geordi added bashfully.

“I believe your emotional attachment is less clinical than that,” noted Data kindly.

“I was just about to say the same thing,” said Deanna. Though she bit her tongue and didn’t point out that it was not just Geordi emotional response to the baby, but to Data that she was observing.

“Data, could you put your shirt on,” grumbled Geordi as he tried to keep things professional. His friend furrowed his brow at his change in demeanour, but complied and dressed himself.

“So Data, how do you feel now that you have a life growing inside of you?” teased the empath.

“I feel...hungry actually,” he noted with a tilt of his head.

“Then let’s go fix you a snack,” laughed Geordi.

......

Deanna smiled softly at Wesley as she opened her eyes. Wesley wasn’t entirely sure how to interpret her kindness. Then the young woman noticed that Data was standing just behind the half-Betazoid. Her heart sank when she didn’t see a baby in his arms.

“You lost it, didn’t you?” she sobbed. Lore instinctively soothed her by kissing her temple and taking her hand. Data notably frowned at his brother’s acts of affection.

“No, Wesley. She is stable for now,” Data explained as he quickly sat on her other side and took hold of her other hand. “Geordi and I were able to relocate her so that may continue to develop. I have named her Oona for the time being. I did not wish to risk losing her without her having a name.”

“Oona?” Wesley asked softly in disbelief. “Where is she?”

Data took her hand and rested it on his stomach.

“What?” Both Wesley and Lore asked at the same time, obviously neither one following his meaning.

“Data’s become her incubator,” Deanna noted from beside the android.

“You mean?” Wesley whispered as she stared at his middle. 

“For various reasons it is beneficial to have her with me at all times,” he clarified. “My only remaining concern will be whether or not she is able to develop a positronic net on her own,” he confessed quietly. “Zoe had the benefit of being a hybrid and much of her brain is in fact organic in nature. Oona is completely synthetic and I thought it important to tell you that she may be born without any intelligence; a mere functional shell.”

“I find that difficult to believe if she’s struggled this hard to exist already that there isn’t some sort of will power behind that drive,” Lore told him with stoic optimism.

“Let us hope that you are correct. Either way, I will continue to see to her needs so that she may have the best possible chance,” he added with a warm smile.

Wesley couldn’t help but pull Data close and kiss him on the cheek. “You’re a very good man, Data. Thank you for doing this.”

“Yes, brother. You’re a true hero,” Lore added sincerely, reflecting Wesley’s gratitude.

“I would do anything for Wesley,” Data confided. “Anything but accept her desire to be with you, Lore,” he added after a moment.

“Touché,” the human looking android mused in response. “I know exactly how you feel.”

“Be nice,” Wesley warned.

Both androids frowned slightly; becoming a reflection of one another. They each believed that they were being nice. 

Then Doctor Crusher excused herself from another patient she was attending and came over to join them. “Earl, I was hoping you could go and pick up Zoe. We’re having a few concerns about Delia and I thought it would be best if you took over her care for now,” requested the doctor.

“Concerns? What kind of concerns?” questioned Data as he continued to look worried.

“I have to admit that I have a few of my own. Delia came onto me recently, seemingly out of the blue,” Lore commented. 

“Wait. What do you mean she came onto you?” asked Wesley who was more than a little concerned about his offhand remark. 

“I mean that she came onto me,” he said again a little sheepishly. He wasn’t ready to confess about how the woman exposed herself to him quite literally.

“Did you kiss her?” she pressed rudely. Her comment got Data’s attention as well and he seemed to want to know as much as she did.

“Yeah, but I didn’t like it. You know how I react badly if I don’t feel genuine in my feelings,” he muttered in his own defence.

“That just means you felt dirty about it,” she snarked back unimpressed.

“Look, the point is that she seems to think that we knew each other before.”

“But you couldn’t remember her?” This time it was Deanna who wanted to know.

“It is unlikely that he would,” offered Data. “It is very likely that his memories from after his first deactivation were wiped. As Dr. Maddox only created copies of his earlier memory banks we do not have duplicates and it is unlikely that he will ever recover them.”

“So you can only recall your first fourteen years of existence?” wondered Wesley, mostly to herself. She couldn’t help but smile at the notion. It made her happy to believe that all of Lore’s struggles after she disappeared would be forgotten.

“At least I can remember the important bits,” he teased.

“And of course you have your new experiences thus far since your reactivation,” added Data before addressing Wesley directly again. “From the smile on your face would it be reasonable to assume that you are choosing to continue in your relationship with my brother?”

“Nothing is as black and white as all that, Data,” she said as she gave him a piteous look.

“It isn’t?” added Lore without missing a beat.

“Can I please just recover from one disaster before I plow head first into the next?” she requested only half-joking.

“Whatever you need. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to fetch my daughter,” Lore smirked before giving Wesley one last brief kiss to the forehead.

Data watched his brother leave and he could see in him what Wesley had. He didn’t like how it made him feel knowing that his brother was so much more who he once was and therefore all that more appealing to the woman he refused to give up. 

The golden android had hoped that all of his efforts to remain amicable had finally been rewarded. As much as he wanted to pretend that he was fine with being just friends, it was never what he’d really wanted. Now their relationship was in question again and he didn’t know what that would mean for them, or for the synthetic life he was carrying around.

.....


	14. Getting On The Same Page

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The senior officers have a meeting. Lore still doesn’t trust Delia. Data and Geordi continue their close friendship.

The senior officers were all gathered together around the conference table. Lt Grayson took Mr. Worf’s vacant seat since he was appointed as the interim Chief of Security. 

Data gave the man a wary glance as he sat next to Geordi and the friends exchanged an unspoken comment. Riker smiled broadly at the two.

“Sometimes I think you two spend so much time together that you have telepathic conversations,” the Commander mused.

“I assure you that we do not,” Data retorted before giving his friend another suggestive look.

“They’re doing that on purpose to mess with me aren’t they?” Grayson muttered to Riker from his left.

“Yeah, probably. Although, they do seem to have their own little club that one else is good enough to join,” Riker told him with a laugh.

“Mr. Data...I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Grayson said after a moment of silence. “Is that odd bloke who bares a startling resemblance to you any sort of relation?”

“Yes and no,” replied the android. “He is a blood relation to my creator, Dr. Soong.”

“Oh, how strange that you both look so much alike,” the security officer noted.

“You could even say they’re almost identical,” teased Riker.

Data was about to protest his commander’s comment when Captain Picard drew their attention.

“So, we are all here this afternoon to make a few things clear and discuss a very sensitive matter,” began Picard as he straightened in his seat. “Some of you may already be up to speed, while others may have only heard rumours and whispers. The most important thing for now is to understand the need for discretion and privacy.”

“We’re talking about Wesley again, aren’t we?” grumbled Riker with a frown. “I swear we should have designated monthly meetings just for her.”

“Will, please,” Deanna scolded. She didn’t care if he was being goodnatured, or not. They didn’t need his attitude.

“My daughter has always been unusual,” Beverly started to say, but was cut-off by Riker.

“No, Doctor. Your son was unusual,” he corrected firmly. “Your daughter is a spectacular magnet for all things unusual.”

“Commander, with all due respect, shut up,” Beverly rebutted harshly.

“Beverly, please let’s be civil,” Picard pleaded. “And do not say that he started it. We are decorated officers here, not children in the schoolyard.”

Geordi covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. It wasn’t unheard of for their captain to take control of the room, but the fact that the two were openly dating—the doctor and her captain—made it a little awkward to witness his reprimand.

“I believe what we are meant to be discussing is the creation of a new synthetic life,” Data said smartly as he tried to deflect from Geordi’s fit of laughter. 

“You mean Zoe Crusher?” Grayson asked with interest. “I was already briefed about the girl and I understand the importance of keeping things on the need to know spectrum.”

“It is good that you are familiar with her, Mr. Grayson,” continued the android. “It is our hope that she will soon have a sister.”

“You’re joking,” blurted Riker. “How?”

“Through no fault of her own, Wesley became impregnated by a similar, albeit less reliable form of synthetic procreative matter,” explained Beverly.

“When?” asked Will a little less harshly.

“When she last saw Lore. He was the one who implemented the sample without her knowledge,” the doctor continued. “And because she was in the dark about it things didn’t exactly go to plan. The pregnancy, in essence, failed.”

This time there were no comments from either Riker, or Grayson. They both looked to be fairly disturbed by the news.

“We were able to save the child,” Data informed the room. “Although in the very early stages of gestation she is quite completely artificial and it is our hope that she may be able to complete her development and become a fully functional individual.”

“You mean android,” Riker added quietly as he digested this new information. “You’re talking about an android that was made inside of a human host.”

“Only at first,” Beverly said. “Without any organic components it’s development stalled and Wesley’s body began to reject the pregnancy.”

“So this would not be a valid way of creating more artificial life? We shouldn’t expect a secret conspiracy to grow an android army inside of a unsuspecting human hosts,” commented Grayson in all seriousness.

“Not at all,” offered Geordi. “In fact, Data and I aren’t even sure that this child...this new android will have any intelligence.”

“What do you mean, Mr. LaForge?” Picard questioned, mildly alarmed by the revelation.

“There is no evidence as of yet that the child has a functional brain,” continued Data. “Zoe’s brain is mainly organic. All of her impulses and personality come from a very human mind. An android brain—a positronic matrix—is nearly impossible to replicate and quite unstable to maintain. My own creator having only two recorded long-term successes during his entire lifetime.”

“Data, I had no idea that was a possibility,” said Beverly with a hint of sadness. “Does Wesley know?”

“Yes. I did inform her of this concern,” he told the doctor. “We are hopeful that things are not as dire as they appear.”

“Then there’s still a huge margin for failure,” Riker said soberly. “All this effort and you might have a uniquely created shell with no substance; no soul.”

“You must have some inkling of it’s chance for survival,” noted Grayson. “You couldn’t possibly be crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.”

“Mr. Grayson brings up a valid point. Is there anyway you can monitor for brain activity as she is situated now?” wondered Picard.

“We did what we could to connect sensors to most of her vital systems,” explained Geordi, though leaving out the fact that these were Data’s personal sensors.“But there was not much to go on at the time. This little girl has been in her new incubation pod for approximately two days now and nothing has change in that regard.”

“Then you will keep me posted,” instructed Picard with a firm nod. “And we will all keep tight-lipped until further notice.”

There were nods from all round the table. The room emptied, but Deanna noticed that Grayson stayed behind. She came up beside him as he watched the passing stars out the large window.

“I knew the Enterprise was a unique ship filled with equally unique people and situations,” he commented as he looked to her reflection in the glass. “But I’m not entirely sure that I was prepared for all of this...family drama.”

“Think of this as an opportunity to experience and learn from a new form of technology, or an undiscovered life form,” she offered in as a way of putting him at ease.

“This is a person’s unborn child,” he rebutted, understandably upset. “It just feels wrong.”

“What does?” she pressed.

“That we’re all sitting around and discussing it without the mother even in the room,” he clarified. Deanna smiled despite his concerns. “Why are you smiling?”

“Because your visceral reaction is normal and wonderfully compassionate,” she said softly. “I think you’ll fit in here just fine.”

“Oh, right,” he responded, still feeling ill at ease about the whole thing.

.....

Lore sat at a booth in Ten Forward with Zoe and her little plush teddy bear. He decided that they needed a change of scene and he needed to think things over. He was finding it more and more difficult to decide what he should do next. He left a message for Juliana explaining where he was, but was reluctant to convey when he would be coming back. 

He couldn’t help obsessing over wanting to speak to Wesley again, but at the same time he wanted to give her some space. She wasn’t going to be released from Sickbay for at least another week. So after taking Zoe for a visit he felt the need for a distraction. So here he was with his daughter in public. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lore looked up as someone sat beside him. He tried to smile when he discovered it was Delia. He wasn’t sure what to expect from her anymore. Every time was some new deviation of her personality. He was more than a little curious to see what she had to say for herself.

“Hello Earl,” she greeted warmly, using his alias. She sat a little closer to him than he would have liked, but that seemed to be her thing now.

“Hi Delia; does this mean you’re still talking to me, even after I was so abrasive?” It wasn’t quite an apology but she seemed not to care.

“Sure, I guess so,” she replied with a smile. “It must have be upsetting for you anytime some brings up parts of your past that you don’t recall.“

“Yeah, it can be frustrating,” he admitted with a sigh. “I’m just glad I can remember some things now.“

Delia ran a hand through her thick hair and leaned closer to him. “So you still don’t remember us, or how you ran off?”

Lore didn’t remember any of it. He knew the story about the emotion chip that had been meant for Data and what it had done to his mind; but that was all it was to him—a story. He had become his own cautionary tale of how not to behave.

He shook his head and looked at his daughter. Zoe was on her best behaviour and quietly talking to her bear. “The only reason I remotely believe that you knew me is because of what you said about my search for my daughter.”

“Finding her was very important to you,” she said with a nervous laugh as she put a hand in his knee. “Boy, were you stuck on finding your girl. Though at the time you thought she might be a grown woman. I guess this was a nice surprise,” she noted as she gestured to the small child sitting across from them.

It certainly sounded as though she knew him and how fixated he could get. It was one of the qualities he’d picked up from his father he was sure.

Lore could feel her hand start to move up his thigh. When it got a little too close to his groin and he winced before making her take it back. She frowned and looked away; more disappointed than embarrassed.

“I’m still in love with Lee,” he told her quietly as though to not hurt her feelings. “I just don’t have the same feelings that you do.”

“I’m not as convinced as you are that she’ll want you now,” she replied just as quietly. “You know, now that she has your brother’s attention.”

“Their relationship is complicated. They’ve known each a long time as I understand it.”

“Data’s a highly decorated officer; what can you offer her?” she said snidely as she leaned further away from him.

“Our life together may have been simple, but it was ours. No one dictated how we should live, or who we should live with,” he shot back defensively.

“That’s what I liked about our time together as well,” she said sadly. “You did what you wanted and didn’t care what anyone thought of you. That’s what I loved about you.”

Lore was starting to understand that he seemed to care more about what was happening. He wanted his brother to be happy. He wanted Wesley to be happy too. He just hoped that they could be happy without each other.

“I’ll try not to push you too hard if you promise not to write me off just yet,” Delia added with a weak smile. “Promise you’ll keep an open mind at least until Wesley has told you what she wants.”

He didn’t want to give her false hope, but he also knew, deep down, that he didn’t want to be alone. So he nodded and took her hand. After all, what were the chances that he would find a third woman so accepting of him and his daughter?

......

Data stood in the middle of Geordi’s quarters as his friend ran a quick scan over his abdomen. The engineer frowned and shook his head. He was still unable to get much of a reading.

“It still seems as though your internal link to Oona is our best way to monitor her progress,” Geordi said.

“Although I am aware of her existence I have yet to experience anything that would indicate any thought processes,” Data added.

“Data, she is literal not meant to be born yet,” Geordi reminded him. “I know she’s an android, but give her some lenience. This isn’t Lal we’re talking about. This is a whole new ballgame.”

The android had to give his friend’s statement some thought. He still found it difficult to follow anyone’s train of thought when they threw in figures of speech. Then he took an extra, almost unnoticeable moment to consider the implications of comparing Oona to Lal. For the first time he felt almost euphoric that this child could be his, as Deanna had implied. But then he remembered speaking to Wesley in Sickbay and how much she and Lore seemed invested as the future parents.

“Geordi, do you believe that Wesley and Lore will claim Oona as their daughter once she is ‘born’?” he inquired his voice quiet and unsure.

“Geez, buddy, I don’t know,” Geordi replied. “I guess I assumed Wesley would, but Lore....that’s something I guess you’ll have to discuss.”

Data put a hand over his middle and looked down reflectively. “I do not know if I will be able to give her up now that I have had such an intimate connection to her,” he confessed after another moment of silence.

Geordi could understand what he meant. He of course had never had the privilege of carrying his son inside of him, but as soon as he became aware of his existence he knew that he would do everything he could to convince Robin to stay on the Enterprise so that he could be a part of Jayden’s life.

“At least she’ll know that she’s loved. Even if she takes after you and has no emotional capability at first,” Geordi said with a grin. For some reason he liked the idea of a child that was just like Data when they’d first met; literal and unaware of how special he really was. “‘Cause you are loved, Oona,” he added as he bent down to get closer, “we love you very much already.”

Robin entered the room and raised an eyebrow as she observed her boyfriend talk into Data’s stomach. Both men must have felt her skeptical stare and they turned to look at her at the same time. 

She shifted Jayden in her arms and smirked at them. “Is this some new kinky thing that you two do when I’m not not around?” she asked only half-joking. 

Geordi straightened his posture and made a face. “No, Robbie. I was just talking to Oona,” he told her. “You know, like I used to with Jayden.”

Robin nodded slowly, but felt a little jealous none the less. It was weird that Data was now essentially pregnant with an android baby and even weirder that her boyfriend had helped him make it happen. “Are you going to massage his feet and rub his neck and shoulders as well?”

“Thank you for your concern, Robin, however I do not feel any physical ill-effects from carrying Oona,” Data informed her plainly.

“Uh huh,” she answered as she came closer and handed Geordi their son. “Well, boys I need to run an errand. You don’t mind taking care of Jayden, do you?”

“Don’t be silly, I love taking care of Jayden,” rebutted Geordi as he cradle the boy in his arms and gave her kiss on the lips. 

Robin smiled at his reassuring nature. Then she smiled even wider when she caught Data looking away. It would seem that she wasn’t the only one feeling jealous.

“Well, Data, you’re welcome to have a soak in our tub if you change your mind. I can’t imagine that you have one in your quarters,” she offered kindly.

Data opened his mouth and paused. Then he closed it again and nodded. Robin giggled. She really did like him; which is why she couldn’t understand Wesley’s reluctance to choose him over Lore. If she did they could return to normal and she could stop the irrational concerns that floated in the back of her mind. Concerns that made her hesitate to leave her boyfriend alone with his android friend. 

......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story is about to take a detour. Stay tuned.


	15. Dangerous Liaisons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A distress call, some shady characters and another link to Lore.

Although Oona continued to grow stronger physically and had almost tripled in size from when she’d been transferred, Data had no new evidence of any higher brain function. Every day became a new disappointment. The android did his best to preoccupy himself. It was some consolation that Wesley was now well enough to be released from Sickbay. Her recovery had been slower than expected since she had been so unwell.

Data continued to perform his duties. During his shifts on the Bridge the captain insisted he take scheduled breaks in his Ready Room. He would use the time to replenish his reserves that were used to nourish the tiny baby stashed away in secret in her incubation pod.

The android sat at his position at Ops. He was currently distracted by thoughts of Wesley and their relationship. He wanted to discuss their future now that Lore was back in her life. He wondered how long he should wait to speak to her after she was released from Sickbay and if there was a proper interval of time that would be deemed as acceptable. Then he began to wonder if he should have a talk with Troi about it before he made an error in judgment and bombarded the poor woman with his inane suggestions.

Then Data considered asking the Counsellor how long he should wait before broaching the subject of physical intimacies. Even if Wesley was medically cleared to resume such activities, he was uncertain if would it be appropriate for him now that he was carrying the child.

These were the sort of distractions going around in his mind when something new pinged through his consciousness. The android paused, his hands hovering above his console.

“Is something the matter, Mr. Data?” Riker asked with furrowed brows. It wasn’t like him to suddenly freeze up.

“I do not know, sir,” Data commented as he tried to analyze whatever it was that had happened. “Perhaps I should take a moment, if you do not mind?”

Riker was still mostly in the dark about why exactly the Second Officer was taking breaks in the captain’s office; but he did know it had something to do with discretely checking the progress of the baby. At first he thought that Data was checking on Oona remotely using the captain’s computer. But everyday Riker became more suspicious that Data might be carrying the offspring with him all the time. So he gave the android a nod of approval and let him go.

Captain Picard gave Data a look of confusion when he entered the Ready Room.

“Hungry again?” he mused, feeling that Data had just recently paid him a visit.

“No sir...I do not know sir,” the android commented distractedly as he looked down at his stomach.

The captain couldn’t help but smile. “Was it quiet on the Bridge?”

“Quiet, sir?” Data repeated at a loss.

“As I recall you had a similar moment of concern yesterday as well,” Picard noted. “Then we all started to discuss the nature vs nurture theory and you seemed to reengage.”

“I was unaware that I had become so obviously distracted,” said Data with a frown. Then he tilted his head and raised his brows. “There is something...but I do not understand what.”

“Computer, please play Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake at a medium volume,” Picard commanded with a mischievous glint in his eye.

As the music filled the room the android continued to look confused. Then after a few moments his face brightened. “It appears you were correct, sir,” he said almost giddy. “I believe that she was bored.”

“You’re joking,” Picard chuckled. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“That Oona understands the absence of stimulation,” Data replied with grin. “I have been on many night shifts this week and we often play classical music to pass the time; which of course you already knew.”

“So she was letting you know, in her way, that she wanted something to stimulate her mind,” Picard beamed. “Which would imply that she has one,” he added as he affectionally patted Data on the shoulder.

“This is an important moment,” Data said with a touch of awe. 

“Yes, I believe it is,” conceded Picard.

Just then the comm chirped through the music.

“Captain, your presence is requested on the Bridge,” came Riker’s intrusive request.

“We will have to finish celebrating later, Mr. Data,” said Picard. “Do you think you are able to join us?”

“Of course, sir,” he answered simply as he followed his captain out on the main Bridge.

“Captain, we’re picking up a distress call from an unidentifiable vessel within this region of space,” announced Lt. Grayson from his station at Security at the top of the arch. “We appear to be the only ship in range that may provide assistance. Any other vessel is about two days out.”

Data retook his seat at Ops and Picard sat at attention in his captain’s chair.

“Open a hailing frequency, Mr. Grayson, and let us attempt to make contact,” commanded Picard, feeling a little wary about the endeavour.

“Hailing frequency open, sir,” said Grayson.

“Unidentified vessel; this is Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise. We have picked up your distress signal. We ask that you identify yourselves and explain how we may assist you.

Comdr Riker gave his captain an auspicious look when all they got in return was a crackle and dead air.

“Captain, it would appear as though the ship’s communication systems may be damaged. I am attempting to compensate,” Comdr Data noted from the front of the Bridge.

“Ensign Arraign, please bring us closer in range to the other ship, but not so close that we may become vulnerable if all is not as it appears,” instructed Picard to the helmsman.

“Aye, sir. Coming about,” answered Arraign.

“Mr. Grayson, once we’re in range please scan for life signs.” This time it was Riker giving the orders.

“Aye, sir,” chirped Grayson.

“I believe we may have better success now, Captain,” Data informed Picard as he turned slightly in his chair.

“Unidentified vessel, this is...” Picard didn’t get to finish. The comm crackled and a broken voice came through.

“Please—-any—one. Our hull—-damaged. Breach—immanent,” came the plea for help.

“Can you confirm this claim, Grayson?” Picard asked with urgency knowing that time could be of the essence for the people of the other ship and to get the Enterprise out of range in time to avoid the blast if there was an inevitable explosion.

“Affirmative, sir. There appears to be significant damage to their aft hull. I have picked up on three life signs,” he reported.

“Only three, on a ship of that size?” questioned Riker.

“Transporter Room One please stand by for an emergency transport from the unidentified vessel,” Picard said with importance as he stood. “Grayson I want you to take a team to meet our mystery guests.”

The lieutenant nodded and left the Bridge.

“Unidentified vessel, we are prepared to beam you to safety. We are only reading three life signs; is this accurate?”

The comm crackled and Data tried to compensate again, his hands dancing across his controls. 

“There are—four, Captain. We will—do—stand—-together.” Came the broken reply. This voice sounded different from the first.

“Mr. Data, perhaps you can join Mr. Grayson and his team,” Picard suggested with concern.

The android nodded and took his leave.

“Transporter Room One, please initiate transport of the four crew members from the other ship,” Picard commanded.

“Four, sir?” Inquired the transporter technician.

“One is not registering, do what you can Chief Lomax,” added Riker.

“Aye sir,” the man replied, sounding a little less than confident.

“Was that really wise to send Data into a possibly dangerous situation?” asked Riker when it was appropriate to speak again.

“Data may be the best person to aid in the transport, besides I have never known him to let his guard down.”

Grayson arrived in Transporter Room One with a team of two men. Data arrived shortly after and quickly took it upon himself to aid the technician in discerning the fourth member that was not obvious to their scans.

“There is a weapon registering with one of the crew. I will disarm it,” said Data sharply.

Then Data nodded to Grayson, indicating that he and his team should stand ready.

After a moment the transporter pad shimmered with three standing crewmen and one lying down. As they finished the transport Data hit his comm badge and informed their captain that they were all accounted for and they could move to a safe distance.

Standing on the transporter pad was a middle-aged man with a firearm aimed at a slim, tall woman. The other person standing was also female, while the one on the ground was male. The woman, not under duress, crouched down immediately to see to the man who appeared to be injured.

“Welcome to the USS Enterprise. I am Comdr Data,” the android said diplomatically as he observed their strange guests. “Your weapon has been deactivated. You may stand down and explain what has happened.”

The middle aged man was Bajoran. He kept his weapon trained on the elegant woman with platinum hair, ice-blue eyes and copper skin. Her complexion wasn’t just deep in tone, but had an almost metallic iridescence. 

“She’s the cause of all of this!” shouted the man.

The woman with the white hair raised one corner of her mouth. “He said your weapon is useless, old man. I suggest you put it down before you get us all shot,” she said snidely.

“He already accidentally fired on Tarren,” explained the young woman crouched next to the injured man. 

Both Tarren and the other woman looked to be of human Native American descent and Data was beginning to wonder if they had stumbled upon a Marquis ship; though they were far from any territory that they would expect to find one.

“I suggest you do as she says,” said Grayson as he made sure that they acknowledged his team and their phasers.

“This is insanity,” commented the the white haired woman. “I hired them and then they turned on me.”

“Don’t trust her, Commander,” warned the Bajoran man. “She’s a witch.”

“I would request that you remain civil,” Data advised as he approached the unconscious man. He seemed to be coming around. “I would like to have security escort you and your friend to Sickbay,” he added as he addressed the young woman.

“Of course. Thank you. My name is Jasmine and this is Tarren,” she said softly feeling more at ease now that she felt safe again.

“Mr. Grayson, please escort our guests Tarren and Jasmine to Sickbay and inform Doctor Crusher of their circumstances.”

The lieutenant nodded and he and one of his team supported the young man as they existed the room.

“My name is Jararn,” said the Bajoran man as he reluctantly handed over his useless weapon. “This demon is Ceres.”

Data let his yellow-gold eyes meet the woman’s ice-blue. He noted how her irises were almost as white as her hair. “What crime has she committed?” the android asked as he continued to regard her.

“She attempted to steal our ship and abandon us on the largest moon of that planetoid we passed,” he replied crossly. “That was when the ship sustained damaged from an undetected ion storm.”

“I only tried to toss them out because I knew they were about to provide me with same curtesy,” Ceres said flatly.

“Perhaps this will be a conversation best saved for my captain,” Data noted as he finally pulled his attention away from the strange woman. Then the android motioned for the remaining security officer to assist him in escorting the other two guests to the Brig. Until more information was available they were both considered high risk.

.....

Captain Picard and Counsellor Troi joined Data in the Brig. They stood opposite the two cells; each holding one of the new arrivals. The captain frowned as he told them both the bad news.

“My name is Jean-Luc Picard and I am the captain of this ship. It would seem that your vessel perished shortly after your rescue. You are very lucky that we were close at hand to receive your distress call.”

“I would like to thank you, Picard for your generosity,” began Jararn. “I made the mistake of taking a commission from that monstrosity in the next cell. If I had realized her true nature I never would have taken the job,” he explained vaguely.

Picard looked to Troi. She gave him one of her discreet looks that seem to communicate that she believed the man.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the captain inquired as he looked over to the alien woman.

“I paid the man for services that he then refused to honour,” she said without emotion. “May I remind you that he had a weapon pointed at me.”

“Yes, I understand all of that. What puzzles me is that we were only able to pick up on three life signs,” said Picard. “At first we believed this was because the man, Tarren, was gravely injured. However that is not the case. It would appear that you, Ceres, lack any distinguishable life signs.”

Data became intrigued at this new piece of information, though he remained silent. The white haired woman seemed give the android a knowing look, but didn’t speak either.

“That’s right; she’s a demon,” blurted Jararn.

The woman came closer to the security field and tilted her head. “Don’t listen to him. He’s an old fool who believes in folklore and fairytales.”

“It is strange, Captain,” commented Deanna as she tried to pick up anything from the woman. “Trying to sense her emotions is nearly impossible. In fact, reading her is quite like reading Data.”

“Data, you are not organic either,” Ceres noted with interest.

“Yes, that is correct,” answered Data.

“You’re an android,” she added with a smirk.

“Yes, he is, but we are more concerned about the two of you at the moment,” Picard rebutted, unwilling to entertain her inquest.

“What of Lore? Is he here as well, or does Starfleet frown on more than one android per flagship?” she mused.

Deanna was sure her jaw had dropped. “You know about Lore?”

“Who do you think created me?” she asked as her wicked smile broadened.

“What?” Picard shot back. “You mean to say that you’re an android?”

“Artificial sentient being, but yes...more or less,” she conceded.

“And Lore created you?” Deanna questioned as she tried not to laugh. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you. He wasn’t exactly the type.”

“Counsellor Troi is not wrong to be skeptical. My brother was not known for his desire to pursue our creator’s work,” added Data.

“I must agree. He was a bastard. He lost interest in me quite quickly when he let his all too human nature lead him astray,” Ceres explained.

“I think we might require a bit more explanation than that,” Picard pressed.

“I was a robot designed by Galvarian scientists. There’s a real market on the border of Federation space for life-like sex-bots. Lore gifted me with his version of AI...I suppose you could say that I’m a boot-leg Soong-type intelligence.”

Deanna couldn’t help but grin to herself. That story made more sense than the android taking the time and care as his brother had when he created Lal.

“How long were you acquainted with Lore?” Data found himself asking.

“Quite some time,” she replied vaguely as she focused on the android. “Then we parted ways when he started fucking that Orion woman. I would have murdered her if I had been forced to endure their sickening romance for much longer,” she added with obvious disgust.

Deanna bit the inside of her cheek. She was now starting to dread that maybe this robotic woman was being truthful and her suspicions about Delia Ashton had some merit. Only it couldn’t be mere coincidence that all three of these people were now on their ship. If things weren’t handled with absolute care it could be like lighting a match in a room full of gunpowder.

“Data, are you still an unfeeling, overly literal bore?” Ceres asked after a moment fo silence.

“Don’t tell us that you’ve met Data before as well?” Picard countered with annoyance.

The android looked from the prisoner to his captain. He was already certain that they’d never met.

“Oh, no. Never. Everything I know about Data I know from his brother,” she quipped.

“What did Ceres hire you and your crew for, Jararn? What was this job you spoke of?” The captain inquired as he turned his attention back to the Bajoran man.

“We were meant to take her to Jaros II. Only then she changed her mind about her destination and when I refused to comply she was ready to dump myself and my crew in order to steal our vessel,” he explained. “I never should have trusted a droid.”

“Well, if you were searching for Lore you’re several months too late, I’m afraid,” Picard told Ceres. “Lore is gone—in the sense that he was destroyed—and your efforts were in vain. You endangered these good people for no reason.”

“Oh please, my dear captain. These are not ‘good people’,” Ceres assured him. “I wouldn’t have hired them if they were good.”

“You have wasted your time none the less,” he informed her.

“Have I? Are you so entirely sure?” the robotic woman countered defiantly.

Deanna frowned and gestured to her captain that she needed to confer with him. The three officers moved away slightly as she lowered her voice. 

“There have been multiple communications over the past few months between certain parties that may have drawn her attention,” she warned. “Coming on board the Enterprise may have been her plan all along.”

“Then we need to get her off my ship,” Picard noted with slight distress. 

“It would be a shame not to study her further, Captain. Though I can understand your reluctance,” noted Data.

“You must have reservations of your own under the circumstances?” Picard added as he regarded his Second Officer and gestured ever so slightly to his midsection.

“You have a point, sir,” Data conceded.

They turned their collective attention back to the two prisoners.

“We will be arriving at the next Starbase in three days,” said Picard. “There you will be taken into custody pending a resolution to your dispute and further investigation into whether or not either of you has outstanding warrants.”

“I demand to be transferred into proper accommodations, Picard...and away from that demon,” Jararn shouted with distain.

“Request denied, Jararn. You will remain where you are; as will she,” he rebutted.

As all three Starfleet officers left the Brig, the captain paused after a few paces. 

“Deanna I want you to go with Data and speak to Earl. I need to know if he even remotely remembers this Ceres woman,” Picard requested with some hesitation.

“I take it you aren’t exactly pleased about all of this,” the empath noted with some anxiety.

“Not in the least, Counsellor,” he said bluntly. “Not only is the seemingly harmless relation of Juliana Tainer not a relation, but is the former android that this absurd living doll is looking for. I honestly have enough concerns these days when it come to artificial life that I don’t need a murderous poor facsimile of Lore on top of it all.”

“To be fair...Lore wouldn’t have been murderous when he created her,” Deanna informed him at the risk of irritating Picard more.

“It is also important to note, Captain, that we do not know her to be murderous. She was simply attempting to steal their ship. Jararn was the one firing a phaser type weapon,” Data clarified.

“Whatever. After this I don’t want any additional androids showing up on my ship. Whether they are human in appearance, or human hybrid. No offence Mr. Data, but I am done with Soong’s ever expanding family tree.”

Data wanted to protest but could tell it wasn’t the right time. He could barely argue against the man while he was literally walking around with the next generation inside of him.

“Captain, you don’t really mean that,” Deanna said calmly as she tried to interpret whether his feeling were honest, or simply stress induced.

“We’ll discuss it later. Right now I need answers,” he said crossly as they parted company.

.......


	16. Going Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley is released from Sickbay, but things are more complicated than ever.

Wesley took a deep, steadying breath. She stood outside her quarters after days of being stuck in Sickbay. At her mother’s insistence neither Data nor Lore visited her much during her recovery period. Part of her was grateful for the quiet and the other part was miserable. Being stuck in bed was giving her terrible flashbacks of when she was held in detention. So she thought she would escape a day early.

When Wesley walked through the door she was a little unnerved to find Lore and Delia minding her daughter together. Lore was expected, but she had thought there was uncertainty about whether they could trust the nurse.

“Wesley, you’re back,” said Delia as she greeted her with smile.

“Mama, are you all better now?” Zoe asked a little unsure.

Wesley waited to see if Lore would say something next, but he held his tongue and looked away from her; almost as though he was guilty of something.

“I’m feeling so much better,” she said with an honest grin as she hugged her daughter. “I promise to take much better care of myself so that I don’t get sick like that again.”

“If you ever need any nutritional advice, or extra help working out your schedule and childcare I would be more than happy to help,” Delia told her in earnest.

“I’m still technically on leave for a while,” Wesley said with a touch of shame. “In fact, Geordi’s replaced me altogether. So until something opens up I’m pretty free at the moment.” What she didn’t say was that if all went according to plan she would need to take maternity leave in a couple of months so there was no real point in returning to work.

“Well, I think you should still take advantage of my offer. Just because you aren’t performing your duties doesn’t mean that you should disregard your other interests. You should feel free to pursue something you want to while you have the time,” Delia noted kindly.

Wesley gave the other woman a courteous nod, though she still felt uneasy about her presence. Then she turned her attention to Lore. “Earl, are you alright? You’ve been very quiet.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” he replied quietly as he continued to look unsure of himself.

“Papa and Delia took me to the Arboretum today,” Zoe said as she continued to hang on her mother. “Papa says he has a big garden at Gramma Juliana’s house.”

“That’s nice,” her mother said softly as she watched Delia for her reaction. She wasn’t sure what she’d been told in her absence about the man and his new found connection to Zoe. “Maybe some day you can go see it.”

“Oh that’s so wonderful that you would say that,” said Delia with enthusiasm. “I mean, if that’s actually how you feel?”

“Delia, don’t,” warned Lore with a frown.

“Don’t what?” added Wesley as she watched the two.

“Lore wanted to ask if he could take Zoe back to Atrea IV for a while. You know, for a visit with Juliana and to meet Pran,” she said conversationally as though it was no big deal. “I would go with them as well; to help out.”

There it was. Delia was calling Lore. She seemed to know everything.

“Never mind Lee, it was just a thought,” Lore added with a dismissive air.

“Why are you being like this?” Delia asked the timid man. “You were all excited about the idea before.”

“Lee just got released from Sickbay. Maybe overwhelming her with this is not very considerate,” he told her coldly.

“Or maybe you just don’t want to leave now that she’s here,” Delia pouted as she stood and moved away from him. 

“What’s going on with you two? You’re fighting like you’re a couple or something,” Wesley commented as she idly played with her daughters hair and pushed down the rising panic in her chest.

Zoe reached up to her mother’s ear and whispered a secret. “Delia kissed Papa.”

Wesley’s eyes went wide as her face flushed. She was sure her heart stopped for moment.

“What did she say?” the human looking android asked with alarm.

“She said that the two of you kissed,” Wesley replied flatly.

“Zoe, it’s naughty to tell secrets like that,” Delia chided. Zoe giggled and didn’t appear to be bothered by the woman’s scolding tone.

“Besides it’s not true,” Lore sighed. “Delia tried to kiss me, but we didn’t actually kiss.”

“Oh, come on. We should just tell her,” Delia added.

“Tell me what exactly?” Wesley asked as she was finding it harder and harder to remain calm. She knew that they hadn’t actually discussed where they stood with each other just yet, but she was still fairly certain his love for her was implied. 

“Lore and I knew each other before. Sadly, he can’t recall his memories of our time together,” rambled Delia.

Wesley tried her best not to recoil as the woman moved closer to her beloved. It wasn’t exactly new information, but she didn’t like how much Lore seemed to be involved with her now. “You mean, Lore was with you..in the past?”

Before Delia could answer, Data and Deanna entered the room without invitation. Lore stood at attention as he read the look of concern imprinted on his brother’s golden features. “What’s wrong?” he android asked.

“We have a few unexpected visitors,” began Data as he addressed his brother. “One of them claims to be a creation of yours.” Then Data realized that Wesley was in the room and he gave her a soft smile. “Hello Wesley. My apologies for bursting in without invitation.”

“It’s fine, Data,” she replied, although it was far from it.

“Wes are you alright?” Deanna interjected. She could tell by the lingering tension in the room that something unsettling was happening just before their arrival.

“It can wait,” she replied dismissively. “Who is this person?”

“Her name is Ceres,” continued Data with importance. “She says that you—Lore—gifted her with your AI.”

“Ceres?” blurted Delia as she took an instinctive step back. “Is here?”

All eyes were on the half-Orion. Deanna gave her a nod; she could feel the fear radiate off the woman as she looked over at Lore.

“This is not good,” Delia told him with obvious distress. “When Ceres left she said she would destroy you if she ever saw you again.”

“What!? Why!?” Lore cried with distress. He was really beginning to hate his recycled nature. It was one thing to lose his memory, but it was another to come to terms with the monster he had somehow become.

Data moved beside his brother and put a steadying hand in his shoulder. “I would like to remind everyone of Lore’s issues with emotional feedback and request that we all remain levelheaded.”

“What feedback?” questioned Delia as she folded her arms over her chest. “This is the first I’m hearing about it.”

“When Lore becomes overly emotional for too long his whole body convulses,” replied Wesley quietly. She watched Data comfort his brother and felt a little hurt that he hadn’t jumped in to comfort her the same way.

“That’s terrible,” noted Deanna. “This is new I suppose, since your reboot?”

“Yes, it is...and it was something I was hoping had been resolved,” Lore added nervously as his hands trembled and his words came slower.

“I am uncertain as to why Lore continues to function at a deficit; however it may be due the protocols that Maddox attempted to install in his matrix,” said Data as he helped the other android to sit down.

“Right...if Maddox was attempting to overwrite Lore’s less desirable aspects, including his temper and violent outbursts, it would stand to reason that he can no longer express these things and therefore gets thrown into a loop instead of outright bypassing them,” ranted Wesley with sudden insight.

“Because you had Maddox discontinue his efforts before his changes were completed...this may be causing the loops,” added Data.

“There might be some truth to that. Sometimes I get angry, but find it almost impossible to physically act on it,” Lore informed them with confusion.

“That would explain your lack of reaction when I punched you,” Data noted.

“That’s right. You just stood there,” Wesley added as she recalled the horrible incident.

“Alright, so we’ll all be very sensitive to Lore’s new feedback problem,” Deanna said in agreement, feeling the need to redirect the conversation. “Delia what do you know about Ceres?”

“Only that she resented me. Lore had altered her to be the perfect companion. A cold, artificial intelligence that mimicked his own,” Delia explained. “She had been constructed as a sex robot, but Lore made a few adjustments to her programming and supposedly copied aspects of his matrix to her. She was no longer a mindless life-sized doll, but a like-minded android.”

“Why did she hate you?” Lore asked, as he made another desperate attempt to recover the memories that would shed some light on these events.

“Because I made you act more human,” she huffed. “We became romantically involved and she despised that you would lower yourself to the level from which you saved her.”

“That’s ironic,” Deanna muttered. “The sex doll condemning her master for enjoying sex.”

Wesley rolled her eyes and made an effort to cover her daughter’s ears; not that she really believed that the simple act of covering the girl’s ears would keep her from hearing what was being said.

“So she wants to destroy me just because of some grudge between us?” asked Lore.

“We actually do not know her full intentions. We do know that she was searching for you and made a vague illusion to knowing that you were here on the Enterprise,” replied Data evenly as he went over to the replicator and got himself something consume. “It is unclear what she intends to do once she has found you.”

Deanna stifled a laugh as she watched Data drink his concoction. She found it rather silly that he would pause during a very tense moment to replenish his nutritional reserves. Wesley seemed not notice, but Delia gave him an odd look.

“Can I have some too, Uncle Data?” asked Zoe innocently as she pulled on his pant leg to get his attention. 

“Of course, Zoe,” he mused. Then he replicated one of her favourites and passed it down to her.

“Since when do you randomly snack?” inquired Delia with suspicion.

“Since..,” Data faltered as he looked to Wesley for guidance. “Since the Enterprise crashed,” he fibbed. “I have found the need to replenish myself more frequently. I believe the stress of it was more than I had anticipated.”

“That’s strange. I would have thought it was from all those vigorous gymnastics you’ve been doing with Lee,” Lore retorted coldly.

Data looked appalled as he looked to the woman in question again. Wesley just shrugged her shoulders at him. “I didn’t say anything of the sort. He’s just using his wild imagination,” she said distractedly.

“Hmmm, that does explain those scratches,” muttered Deanna to herself.

Data gave the empath an offended side-glance. Then he turned back to his brother. “I believe it may be beneficial to keep yourself and Delia well away from the Brig and that area of the ship until we can transfer our suspects into custody at the next Starbase.”

“What if I want to talk to Ceres?” Lore asked with interest.

“Why would you want to? She can’t be trusted and you don’t remember that part of your life. In fact it may as well have been someone else’s life,” rambled Deanna.

“She’s right,” added Delia. “Don’t go anywhere near her. She’s dangerous and unpredictable.”

“Who does that remind you of?” This time it was Wesley commenting to Data. The android gave her a knowing look in return. Lore huffed in annoyance at their playful tone.

Deanna caught a wave of tension go through the room. Talk about a powder keg. 

“Wesley, I think we should have a talk soon. Right now, Data and I need to report in with Captain Picard,” said Deanna as she started for the door. Then she realized that Data wasn’t following her but heading off to one of the other rooms. “Data aren’t you coming?”

The android faltered and frowned. “It would appear that I require a small respite before I join you, Counsellor.”

“What? Now you need a nap?” the Counsellor asked with a chuckle.

“No, not a nap. It is not the bedroom, but the restroom that I require,” he explained in hushed tones.

Deanna laughed a little at his admission and went to wait in the hall.

“I guess what goes in must come out,” Lore teased with a chuckle. Zoe giggled as Delia rolled her eyes.

“Sometimes it’s like having two children to care for,” she lamented.

Wesley nodded and spoke without thinking, “Welcome to my world.”

“You aren’t upset about our relationship, are you?” Delia inquired with a pained expression.

“Relationship?” she shot back as she fussed with her daughter’s hair again.

“She means the one in the past...that I don’t remember,” Lore grumbled. “Don’t worry Delia, Lee has no comment; especially since we all know about her continued affair with Data.”

“Please don’t be like that,” pleaded Wesley.

“Like what? Disgusted by your inability to remain faithful to one of us for more than a minute if we’re both in the same place?”

“Lore...that’s not true. And please don’t say things like that in front of Zoe,” Wesley retorted. She was beginning to think it was better when they were ignoring her.

“I think Zoe is smart enough to understand that her mother has fallen for her uncle,” Lore snarked.

“I don’t believe you,” Delia interjected quite loudly. “You’re still obsessed. You just can’t help yourself from dictating how your precious ‘Lee’ should live her life.”

Wesley groaned with frustration. She was quickly growing tired of the strange dynamic between Lore and Delia. As Data came back into the room she led her daughter into her bedroom. The golden android gave her an inquiring look of concern. 

“Don’t ask. Just go catch up with Troi,” Wesley commented frankly before vanishing behind her bedroom door.

“He’s my own brother, Delia!” Lore yelled with indignation.

“And she was never technically in love with you...she was in love with ‘the old Lore’,” she countered much quieter this time.

“So were you!” he rebutted unmoved. “Besides you’re wrong! I am her Lore; I’m just not yours!”

Data grimaced at their argument, but took the advice he was given and left undetected.

“But I also fell for the sweet man who enjoyed talking for hours with the little girl that reminded him of his daughter,” she reminded him.

“Because she is my daughter and you have no business pushing your weight around and forcing my hand!”

“What?” Delia shot back rudely, “I’m just trying to look out for you. You used to take what you wanted and now you’re so unsure of yourself. If you want to be with your daughter you should be. Don’t let Wesley intimidate you.”

“Oh please! I was just being considerate of her feelings and you stepped right over me and tried to get your way...not mine...yours!”

“That’s not what I was doing,” she pouted.

“I think you should leave; everyone else has,” he said sharply as he turned away from her.

Delia sheepishly looked around the room and realized that he was right, they were alone and yelling at one another. It wasn’t even in a healthy, argumentative way. It was a brutal inconsiderate fight. She reluctantly gave up, but stopped by the entryway.

“You know, Lore, if you can’t be more decisive and focused you won’t have anyone left to argue with,” she commented sadly before leaving the room.

Lore sat back down and ran his shaky hands through his messy hair. He stopped halfway and tugged at it. Whatever Juliana had done to his hair to make it more organic in its texture also made it a pain to keep groomed. He was ready to pull it out in his frustration.

Wesley came out of her bedroom when the yelling stopped. She reluctantly sat down beside the android she wasn’t sure she knew anymore. She could tell that he was upset and she was afraid he would end up on the floor, dysfunctional. 

“Lore, what can I do?” she whispered as to keep from startling him.

“Make it all stop,” he said pathetically as he held his head in his hands. “I want to go home and forget I ever knew any of you.”

“You can’t really mean that,” she said softly as she rubbed circles on his back the way he used to for her and Zoe.

He looked over at her then, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “Do you have any idea what it’s like walking around in someone else’s life?”

“Believe it or not, I do,” she told him as she reflected on how she’d felt for the first few weeks when she had effectively replaced her male counterpart. “But Lore, you don’t have to try and insert yourself back into your old life. You deserve to be whoever you are now,” she told him with heartfelt sincerity. “Maybe that man has an attraction to Delia and maybe he wants a relationship with Zoe, but you don’t need to feel trapped.”

“I don’t want to be with Delia, but she’s made herself so available and I don’t like being alone right now,” he confessed, his words laced with shame. “What I really want is to be with you. I was so lost without you,” he told her, his voice horse and full of longing. She wasn’t sure if he meant since he came back online, or if he was speaking about the first time he met her on Omicron Theta.

“I’m here; I’m right here,” she reassured him as she wrapped her arms around him. She seemed to relish the contact this time as much as he did. For a moment they just held onto one another.

“Sometimes I look at you, Lee, and everything is so clear. My feelings, my thoughts, even my memories. Then other times I can’t remember the sound of Zoe’s laughter, or how I feel when you smile at me.”

“I think it’s just all too much, too soon,” Wesley said as she moved to look him in the eye again. “It can take a few years before you’re stable enough to process everything all at once. I really think that things will get better in time, but you need to be careful and take care of yourself.”

She slowly took the man’s hands in her own and held them tightly as she tried to will them to stop shaking. “Take it from me. I almost died because I was too neglectful of my own body’s needs. I crashed and I don’t want you too as well.”

“I don’t want to do this on my own,” he said with a touch of fear. “I don’t want to be without you.”

“I know, but I need to stay here and be with Data and Oona,” she said with insistence. 

Lore knew that she was right. His being there was starting to interfere. Now he was attracting riffraff that could threaten his little family, whether it was his fault or not.

“Maybe you could take Delia with you, at least for the journey back home,” she continued. “But you need to be honest with her about what’s happening with you and your condition. I know she’s a nurse for biological beings, but I bet she’s smart enough to make the leap and be helpful to you as well.”

“What about Zoe?” he asked as he touched her face, not wanting her believe for a moment that Delia meant more to him than she did. “I miss her more than anyone, or anything. I can’t explain it.”

“Lore, I’m very sorry, but I can’t let you take her with you,” she said sternly. Then she paused and took a steadying breath as she recalled her night terror. She knew there was no logical reason to be afraid of him again, but she wasn’t taking any chances. “That doesn’t mean that you won’t see her again, because you will.”

“Alright, I understand,” he conceded as he swallowed hard. “I suppose I wouldn’t approve of her going off with an unstable android either.”

“Thank you,” she sighed with relief. “And I promise once you are stable she can come and stay with you.”

.....


	17. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delia pays a visit to the Brig. Wesley and Data reconnect. Data and Geordi have an interesting conversation.

Delia Ashton was seeing red. She had done everything right. She was a good person who gave of herself freely to her patients and her fellow officers. She was compassionate and kind. All she ever wanted was to prove her love and loyalty to the strange synthetic man who meant everything to her. Finding Zoe was just the icing on her well deserved cake.

So the half-Orion nurse wasn’t going to take this new challenge lying down. She marched herself into the Brig and stood squarely in front of the unimpressed robotic prisoner. She ignored the guard and waited for the white haired woman to recognize her. It only took a moment before the woman’s ice blue eyes glinted with bemusement.

“The Orion whore,” snarked Ceres. “This is an odd alignment of the universe.”

“Why are you here, Ceres?” she demanded bluntly.

“I’m here to reclaim Lore,” she said with a sly smile. “You have no idea how disappointed I was when I had heard the scuttlebutt about how he’d become a ruthless killer bent on destroying humanity and didn’t even think to invite me to the party.”

“Lore is dead. He no longer exists,” Delia told her defiantly.

“Then why are you here? Or are you fucking his poor excuse for a brother?”

“You always did have a gift for language,” Delia retorted coldly.

“Well you’re definitely fucking someone. I never did lose the ability to read people and what they want; what they need,” she said suggestively as she ran a hand slowly down her front. “In other words, your whorish ways are written all over your body.”

“Still perverted as well, I see,” the green skinned woman spat.

“Sticks and stones, Delia. At least I was designed for perversion...oh wait so are Orions, aren’t they?” Ceres rebutted cruelly.

“I’m not engaging with you about that. I just need you to know that the android you’re looking for doesn’t...”

“Exist,” Ceres finished for her with a frown. “Everyone is quite persistent about making sure I believe his untimely demise actually happened.”

“You can’t convince that demon of anything,” grumbled Jararn from the other cell. “You might as well drop it, Miss.”

Delia ruefully shook her head and came dangerously close the forcefield to stand toe to toe with the ghostly droid. “You were supposed to have a ship. What the hell happened?” she growled so low that the other prisoner and the guard couldn’t hear her.

“And you were supposed to have Earl under your thumb. Tell me that you’ve at least convinced him to take his daughter,” Ceres said in a huff just as quietly. “And don’t doubt me. I still have a ship. It just looks as though it was destroyed.”

Delia wasn’t sure whether or not to believe the droid. “Earl wants his daughter. That part was easy. It’s her mother who’s still a problem,” she replied quickly.

“She won’t matter to him once you activate the codes we gave you,” Ceres conspired. “But once you do you’ll have to make sure to grab the girl.”

“You’re right,” Delia said loudly as she backed away from the cell. “She’s a monster.” The nurse turned dramatically away to continue her deception.

“Oh Delia, love,” Ceres called causing the other woman to stop. “Tell Earl that I look forward to his visit. You can also tell him that I can’t wait for his long elegant fingers to play my body like the well tuned instrument it is.”

The black haired nurse didn’t give the robotic woman the satisfaction of a reaction. She continued walking out of the room. It was only once the doors were closed shut behind let out a nervous groan. This wasn’t going the way they’d planned it and she hated when things didn’t go to plan.

......

Wesley eagerly welcomed Data back into her quarters. Now that the drama had died down over the ship’s unusual guests she really wanted to speak with him again. She hugged him warmly and when they parted she started to cry.

“It will be alright, Wesley,” Data told her softly. “Even if Lore is in love with Delia, I will always be here for you.”

She shook her head and pulled herself together. “It’s all so confusing,” she confided. Then she put a hand the android’s middle. “How’s Oona?”

Data smiled at her before giving her the good news. “I believe that she showed me the first signs of consciousness earlier today,” he said.

“What? That’s fantastic!” she yelled and gave him another hug. This time when they parted he dared to kiss her on the lips. At first she gave into him, but as it became more passionate she pulled herself away. “Data, we can’t.”

“Your love for Lore was unhealthy. No one should feel moved to murder on behalf of another,” he said frankly.

“Please don’t talk about that now,” she muttered as she moved further away from him. “I was so happy a moment ago; please don’t ruin it.”

“Where is Zoe?” he asked to quickly change the direction of their exchange.

“She’s with my mother, but don’t get any ideas about that either,” she warned him.

Data could tell that she wasn’t in her usual good spirits. Under normal circumstances they could argue about almost anything. Right now she appeared to be fragile and he was concerned that Deanna was right and she was depressed.

“Perhaps you should rest. Oona is doing well and Zoe is being looked after,” he suggested, “It would be wise to take care of yourself.”

“You know, there were times back on Omicron Theta that I just wanted to tell you everything. Who I was and what had happened. But I knew there was no point. Even if you’d believed me there was nothing you could do to help me,” she rambled unexpectedly about the past.

“I am certain that I would have done whatever I could,” he said kindly. “I am sorry that you had to keep your former life a secret.”

“It’s like some absurd dream now...Lore...Dr. Soong. It’s almost like it wasn’t real,” she said sadly as she sat down on the sofa and began to cry again.

“Wes, would you like me to get Deanna for you?” Data asked as he came to sit next her.

She shook her head and hugged herself. Data reached over and put his arms around her and after a moment of resistance she let him hold her again.

“Lore was telling me how much he needed me and how he didn’t want to be alone,” she told him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “I felt terrible that I couldn’t just welcome him with open arms.”

“What did you tell him?” he asked out of curiosity.

“I told him that he needs to go back to Juliana. I told him he could be with Delia if he wanted,” she sobbed.

The android had been around humans long enough to understand that her emotional state conflicted with the sentiment of what she had told his brother. “That is not what you truly want though, is it?”

What she wanted was to close her eyes and be back at their compound on Omicron Theta. She wanted to move into the cabin with Lore and Zoe and help a younger Data with his vegetable garden. The worst of it all was how much she hated herself. She was the only one to blame for everything. Maybe if she had explained her other life to Lore he would have waited for her after his reactivation and not become a criminal in her absence. 

When Wesley remained quiet Data decided to ask something else. He could see now that she was far from ready to discuss their relationship, but he needed to know about the little android they now shared.

“What about Oona?” he asked her. She looked so at him with furrowed brows. 

“What about Oona?” she repeated.

“I would like to consider her as much my child as yours,” he added assertively.

“I think she is too,” she offered with a weak smile. “I won’t try to take her from you if that’s what you’re worried about.”

He hadn’t realized how much the thought of losing custody of the baby was weighing on him. He felt so relieved and happy all at once to hear her say that she supported him. “Thank you,” he whispered with gratitude.

The comm chirped, interrupting their tender moment. “Lefler to Wesley Crusher.”

Wesley took a deep breath, she was needing a lot of those these days, and answered. “Crusher here. What’s up Robin?”

“Hey, I know this might be a lot to ask, but could you come to my quarters and help me with something?” Robin inquired.

Data put up a hand to stop Wesley from responding. “You should rest. I will assist Ms. Lefler.” Then he gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room. 

Wesley smiled as she watched the android leave. “Um, Robin. I can’t right now, but Data is on his way.”

“Data? Oh, I guess that’s okay,” her friend replied. “Lefler out.”

......

Geordi returned to his quarters to find his best friend changing his son’s diaper. Data was very quietly telling the baby the story of three little pigs as he worked. The engineer stood in silence as he watched the android make quick work of dressing Jayden and listened to him give each little pig his own voice. 

Geordi couldn’t help the laughter that escaped him when he did his wolf impression. Even though Data had been well aware of his friend’s presence the moment he came through the door, he suddenly turned to look at him.

“Is my storytelling amusing, Geordi?” he asked, slightly self-conscious.

“It is, but only in the best way, I assure you,” his friend chuckled.

“Thank you,” he said with a grin.

“And thank you for taking care of Jayden,” Geordi added as he came over to pick up his son. “Where’s Robin?”

Data hesitated and looked away for a moment. Geordi gave him an expectant look.

“She is having a bubble bath,” Data said in almost a whisper.

“Why is that a secret?” Geordi whispered back.

“Because she felt guilty about doing something that would not be deemed as essential for herself.”

“Oh right,” commented Geordi with a shake of his head. “She’s a perfectionist and determined to be the perfect mother.”

“Then she will fail; that goal is much too lofty,” Data noted with a frown.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what I told her,” Geordi confided. 

“Geordi, I must tell you of my very good news,” the android beamed with delight.

“What Data?” the engineer asked with equal excitement.

“Captain Picard helped me to discover that Oona required auditory stimulation. I had anomalous sensory readings that I could not discern. It was similar to when I am alerted to her need for sustenance, however that was not what she wanted. When the captain began playing music she became contented,” Data explained with a smile.

“You mean she made a request? As in she found a means of communicating beyond your initial sensor settings?” Geordi asked in order to make sure he was understanding the gravity of his friend’s story.

“Yes, I believe she has begun to exhibit the early signs of intelligence,” the android confided with what could only be described as glee. He had already told Wesley, but for some reason he was even more excited to tell Geordi. “She could be a fully functional android after all.”

“Congratulations!” Geordi said with an emotional pat on Data’s shoulder, he would have gone for a hug, but Jayden taking up most of his arm span.

“Thank you, I am quite happy about it,” Data added.

“I bet...speaking of unexpected intelligence; what do you make of these refugees?”

“The two crew mates, Jasmine and Tarren, have been allowed to remain confined to quarters. They appear to be uninvolved in the quarrel between the other two; Jararn, the captain of the vessel and Ceres, the woman who hired them,” explained the android.

Geordi made himself comfortable on the couch with Jayden and invited Data to join them. “I looked into her claim about the Galvarian scientists constructing humanoid ‘companions’. It seems that they did for a time before there was too much controversy over what makes a robotic construct a machine and what qualifies as too lifelike,” rambled the engineer.

“In other words, when is a synthetic humanoid no longer sophisticated technology and could be considered sentient?”

“Right, not that I think that robot could have been before Lore tampered with her,” Geordi added.

“I do find it to be quite the stretch that Lore would have the skill necessary to reprogram her so successfully,” said Data after a moment.

“Yeah, he probably had the knowledge and intelligence to do it, but the question is why would he bother?”

“Perhaps he was lonely. He may have found, or purchased Ceres and then decided to try his hand at altering her preprogrammed settings,” the android hypothesized.

“Ew,” Geordi retorted with disgust. “I just can’t even go there.”

“I do not understand your discomfort,” Data said with a tilt of his head. “It is not as though he programmed her with new sexual techniques. He gave her an individuality and the ability to think and make her own decisions.”

“Yeah, she sounds like a disgruntled clone of Lore’s own thought patterns,” his friend grumbled. “That just makes her a female copy of your formerly horrible brother.” Then Geordi smiled mischievously. “Hmm...female Wesley and a female Lore,” he joked.

“Ew,” Data blurted as though to copy his friend. “That is offensive.”

“I didn’t mean anything weird, or kinky Data. I just mean...aren’t you just the least bit curious what they would do, or say to one another?”

“No,” the android said without hesitation. “In fact I hope Wesley never speaks to Ceres.”

“You’re probably right. It would be a bad idea,” Geordi conceded. “God, could you imagine if you had started out your existence as a sex android?” he added without thinking.

“No, Geordi,” Data answered flatly. “Could you?”

The engineer was caught off guard. Even though it had been his dumb comment he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. He hoped he wasn’t blushing as he shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his son’s back. “I don’t think it would matter. You know, since your memory was wiped and all.”

“I have often wondered about my sexuality program and why it is so extensive,” Data rambled as he gave the notion some more thought. “I had believed it was because my creator wanted to give me the ability to compensate for what I lacked in emotional capability.”

“Well, it didn’t really work out that way. I mean, you basically never used it before you could feel something for a potential partner.”

“Now it only causes confusion when I desire people that I cannot, or should not want to be with,” added Data with dismay.

“Is there a lot of people? I mean, I know about Wes and Grady,” Geordi pressed, unsure he was ready for the answer.

Data met his friend’s gaze and held it for a moment. He looked as though he would say something but didn’t. Instead he smiled weakly and reached over to gently hold one of Jayden’s little hands.

“I hope we get to do this Oona,” the android said softly. 

“I’m sure we will,” Geordi said simply as he tried not to over analyze the implications of Data’s use of ‘we’. He knew his girlfriend was in the next room and their child was resting on his chest, but something about hanging out with Data and his son made him feel as though everything was just as it should be.

“Geordi, may I ask you something usual?” Data inquired as he shifted in his position and placed both hands awkwardly on his own knees.

“Might as well, this has already been an unusual kind of conversation,” offered Geordi as he tried to guess what he could possible ask him now.

“Wesley suggested that I learn to have casual sex and forgo any meaningful relationships for the time being,” the android informed him almost embarrassed by the notion.

“Geez, do you think that would help; I mean with your new curiosity?” Geordi couldn’t believe he was even talking to him about sex. In all their years of friendship they barely discussed Geordi’s romantic endeavours because of the android’s lack of understanding and basic lack of interest. Now this topic seemed to come up a lot.

“No, I do not,” Data replied flatly. “I do know that I still desire a meaningful connection.” Then after a moment he added, “Wesley also suggested that I attempt masterbation. I have not as of yet and wondered what your opinion might be concerning this idea.”

“What? Like in general, or for you?” he asked at a loss at how to cope with his concerns.

“You could explain to me your own personal experiences,” Data countered with curiosity.

“Um, no,” Geordi said curtly as he shook his head.

“You find the topic embarrassing?”

“Pretty much. People don’t discuss what they do in private like that,” Geordi told him in hushed tones.

“Yet most human males are eager to share in their romantic conquests,” the android rebutted not quite understanding the problem. “We are friends. You can trust me.”

Geordi was sure that his cheeks were burning red. He stood up and had to put some physical distance between them. “Data you just don’t ask about that kind of thing.”

“During my first sexual encounter with Wesley—when she first became female—she used a technique that I am certain she only knew from use on her male self.”

“Oh my God! Stop talking!” the new father pleaded as turned his son away as though he should be keeping him from hearing their conversation.

“This topic is making you very uncomfortable,” observed Data as he finally realized that there were some things even Geordi wouldn’t discuss. “I do not understand. You and I are close enough that you would literally open me up and assist me to place Oona inside of me, but you are unwilling to discuss your own sexuality.”

“Data what we did was not sexual. We didn’t, you know, have sex to get you pregnant,” blurted Geordi with dismay. “And to be clear...I never want hear about who did what to you in any sexually scenario.”

“When Grady overwhelmed my systems you did not protest to hearing what had happened,” Data offered with a frown.

“Because that was a clinical, functional concern,” his friend explained. “Can we please talk about something else?”

“I believe I will go now, though I suppose in a way you have reconfirmed my understanding of our relationship,” Data rambled as he stood to leave.

“Oh yeah? And what’s that?”

“That you have Robin and that you and I will always be best friends,” he said plainly. 

Geordi read his friend’s statement as straightforward, but there was a touch of hurt in his words as well. “Data, come on. Don’t leave feeling rejected.”

“I do not feel rejected, Geordi. I feel as I always have; that my inclusion in your life has it’s limitations.”

As doors closed behind Data, Robin came out of the bedroom in her robe. She was towelling off her wet hair as she gave her boyfriend a look. “Did you two have a fight or something?”

“I’m honestly not sure,” he said as he gave her a kiss.

......


	18. A Robot Named Ceres

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ceres tells a story and no one knows what to make of it.

The doors to the Brig swished open. Jararn didn’t bother looking up. He knew all the attention was for the criminal in the next cell and preferred it that way. The less involved he was the more innocent he looked.

“Mr. Data, I see you couldn’t stay away,” Ceres remarked. Then she realized that it wasn’t Data but some human with the same face. 

“I found myself with a question that I believe only you can answer,” he said calmly as he kept his distance from her cell. “If you are not intending to destroy the android known as Lore what do you intend?”

“To remind him of his mission and join him in it,” she mused. She knew he would come to see her eventually. “But you could have guessed that couldn’t you, Earl?”

“His mission?” he countered with a snort of derision.

“To destroy humanity,” she replied flatly.

Lore became suspicious of how much she sounded like she was only repeating hearsay and not actually being serious about her intensions.

He narrowed his eyes at her and balled his shaky hands into fists at his sides. “Who is Erol Hahn to you and why were you listening to my sub space conversations?” he asked as he tried to remain steady and even. He thought back to all the crackled conversations and the weak image signals and couldn’t help but wonder if it was her interference that had made them so terrible.

“Erol Hahn is the alias used by Lore Soong,” she said flatly as she stepped closer to the edge of the field.

“I only became Erol Hahn five months ago,” he said with a slow shake of his head. “Why do you seem to know the name from before that?”

“Let me entertain the idea that you are being truthful, Earl,” she said with slight skepticism. “And I will tell you the story of a sad old man and his three disappointing sons.”

Lore took a step forward, not fully understanding what she meant, but dreading what it could imply.

“There once was an outcast scientist who preferred the company of his machines to that of people. His life-long dream of creating synthetic life was in his grasp, but a corporate entity would steal his intellectual property if he remained under their control,” she recounted. Her tone was soft and lyrical as though she were telling a bedtime story. 

“So the scientist fled the only home he’d ever known,” she continued. “After several years he found himself on an outpost colony with the beginnings of a highly sophisticated cybernetics lab. His first born synthetic son was worth his pain and isolation. Or so he believed. That was until the scientist fell in love.”

“Are you having fun? Making my father’s life into some sort of fairytale?” Lore grumbled unappreciatively.

The white haired droid put a finger to her full lips and shushed him. “Do you want to hear my story, or not?”

“Yes, I do, but can you hurry it along,” he pressed conceded that someone would catch onto his unauthorized visit.

“Now where was I? Oh yes...the timid scientist was a man after all. He fell in love with a beautiful, brilliant female scientist. She doted on him, his work and their new son. Alas, it was years before they would create another son; but it was worth it in the end. With the female scientist’s additions this son was artistic and compassionate and good...which of course made the first son become jealous of the second.”

Lore wanted to correct her, but he held his tongue, not wanting to prolong her story.

“He was ready to lash out at the world that had so unfairly replaced him, when he met a girl and very humanly fell in love with her despite his synthetic nature. Although she tried to resist his charms, she too fell in love. Together they made their own little family and everyone was happy.”

Ceres paused as she gestured for him to come closer. Lore took another few steps towards her until she seemed satisfied. “That was when the bad luck started. The girl that had fallen in love with the first son disappeared. Then the colony was destroyed. The two scientists were forced to abandon their second son and flee for lives. After a time the female scientist grew to resent the timid male scientist and she left him. He was alone and heartbroken. So he did what any good scientist would do. He began again.”

Lore gave her a look of confusion. He wasn’t aware of any other Soong-type androids, at least none that Data had cared to tell him about.

“With nothing left to lose, the scientist built one final android. It took years to get the supplies he needed and even longer to get his matrix just right. And in one final push he did exactly what he swore he would never do,” she said auspiciously and then paused for effect.

“What did he do?” Lore found himself asking.

“He transferred his memories and research records into the android,” she said with a wicked smile.

“No...my father would never do that!” he blurted, clearly offended that she could utter such a lie.

“Dr. Soong didn’t know what had happened to Data and he couldn’t imagine ever seeing you again—Earl. So he created an android he knew he could trust to be good and ethical. One that would continue his legacy as his elderly, diseased human body decayed,” she explained frankly. “He named him ‘Lore’ after his first son; the son he regretted turning his back on. He looked very much like you...human.”

“But I am Lore. I’m the first son,” he told her in earnest.

“I know you are,” she said softly. “Erol was the alias the third son took. ‘E’ follows ‘D’ after all. He didn’t want to be compared to the brother he never knew. It was hard enough to come to terms with being a replicant of his own creator.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that my father made a third, stable android in his image with all of his knowledge and memories?”

“Yes...you are much slower than I expected you to be,” she chided with a frown.

“You and I have never met before?” he asked as he caught the inflection of her comment.

“It was not you who made me. I only told Picard and Data that to see how they would react. I found you through your communications. I had been fan for years, but we never did cross paths while you were homicidal,” she explained.

“And Delia Ashton?” he asked with a tilt of his head, ignoring her last insinuation that he was a murderer.

“Delia Ashton probably told you that the two of you had an affair. You did, I suppose; I met her when she mistook Erol for you,” she told him. “Erol Soong is many things, but he lacks your refined vision when it comes to synthetics becoming dominant over biological life.”

“That’s not who I am. That’s not what I want!” he shouted as he had to step back from her again, feeling overwhelmed. “Where is he now? Where is Erol? Where is this other version of my father?”

Ceres put her index finger to her lips again and smiled. “Ah, ah, ah...no sense in giving away the surprise ending,” she purred.

Just then Data entered the Brig with Lt. Grayson at his side.

“I told you to stay away from the Brig, Earl,” Data said with disappointment.

Lore gave his brother a look of indignation before acknowledging the security officer. “Hey Chuck, how’s it going?” His words were easy, but his tone was obviously distressed.

“Just dandy as long as you come quietly. Or if you prefer, I could throw you into the next cell and then you two can continue your little visit uninterrupted,” Grayson mused a little too pleased with himself.

“No, no,” Lore commented as he put his hands up dramatically. “I’m coming.”

“Good. I believe that is wise,” added Data with a curt nod.

“Just one last thing,” Lore noted as they came to the door. “Do you really mean to say that your AI came from the other Lore?”

Data gave his brother a look of confusion before looking to the strange droid in the cell.

She smile the same wicked smile and turned her back on him. 

Data was very interested to know what that had been about.

.....

The senior officers gathered in the conference lounge to get up to speed on their uninvited guests. Lore had just finished telling a room full of mostly strangers the story that Ceres had told him. Data had suspected that if he let his disobedient brother speak to the prisoner he would get more out of her than they could ever hope to. He was just wasn’t expecting to find out that he had another brother somewhere.

“Dr. Noonien Soong has no mention of another functional android in his research notes. Not from anything I came across after his death and nothing I have recovered after Dr. Maddox’s untimely demise,” reported Data.

“I don’t understand, why tell us of another android?” questioned Riker as he tried to grasp onto the new information. “She could still be lying. She could be misdirecting us; having us chase our tails while she plots her escape.”

“Let’s all agree to drop the pretence for now and acknowledged Lore for who he is,” offered Picard as he turned his attention to the human looking android. It was truly unnerving for the Starship captain to believe that this reset version of Lore was trustworthy, but he had to at least give him the benefit of the doubt. “Lore, you said that Nurse Ashton believed that she knew you and she knew Ceres?”

“Yes, that’s right. She was a bit confused when I didn’t remember her, but—like some of you—knew that I had crashed after Maddox attempted to reprogram me. So she wasn’t too surprised,” he explained.

“And you can still only recall your memories from before you were found by the Enterprise?” asked Troi with interest.

“Yes. I really don’t remember anything after I came to believe that Lee and Zoe had spontaneously disappeared,” he informed her.

“I was thinking about the idea of the identity I borrowed for you, Lore,” said Beverly. “It’s almost random that I found it in the first place.” Then she brought up the medical profile on the large view screen at the front of the room. 

“Erol Soong Hahn,” read Geordi with a frown. “It says he’s thirty-five years old, human and last known residence is Atrea IV. Was that your addition, Doc?”

“Oh darn, wait,” the doctor muttered. She clicked the screen and the information shifted. 

“Last known residence Ortensia Colony,” Geordi read flatly. “Hey Data, isn’t that in the same system as the jungle planet Trelina III where Soong had his secret lab stashed?”

“That is correct,” Data noted. “It is possible that there is another man that resembles Dr. Soong.”

“Or another android,” added Troi. 

“Ceres said she wished to join Lore in order to continue his mission to destroy humanity,” Data stated as he turned to his brother. “Do you believe this was part of her bluff before she felt the need to come clean?”

“I don’t know,” Lore replied at a loss. “Let’s hope so. I have no intention of any acts against humanity, I assure you.”

The computer chirped suddenly, interrupting their conference. “Wesley Crusher to Captain Picard.”

All heads turned to their captain, even Lore’s. Picard sat a little straighter as he hit his comm badge. “Go ahead Wesley.”

“Captain, is Earl still with you?” she asked sounding more than little worried.

“Yes, Wesley, what’s wrong?” her mother replied on his behalf. 

“Zoe just had a lovely conversation with her ‘Uncle Earl’ over the subspace relay,” she told them in an almost too calm manner.

Everyone was now staring at Lore. 

He looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin.

“Thank you, Ms. Crusher,” Picard said with a bit of rise to voice. “Will you please join Mr. LaForge and Mr. Data in Engineering as soon as possible so that we may trace the origins of your incoming communication?”

Data and Geordi nodded at one another—their awkward moment from earlier seemingly forgotten—and took their leave without further instruction. Riker mused that at another time he would have poked fun at them for doing their wonder twin thing again, but knew it wouldn’t be appreciated just now.

“Doctor Crusher, I think it would be good to accompany Counsellor Troi and revisit our reluctant guests. Perhaps they know more than what they’re letting on,” continued the captain. The two women stood and went off to do as they were asked. 

“Mr. Grayson, I want you to scan the debris field where that vessel imploded. Maybe we can find evidence of their travels and planned trajectory.”

“Aye, sir,” said Grayson.

“Should I have another chat with Jararn?” asked Riker as he stood to take action. 

“No, Number One. I want you on the Bridge. Leave Jararn and Ceres to me,” Picard instructed firmly.

“Understood,” said Riker before following Grayson out of the room.

The captain turned to go when he realized that Lore was still sitting at the table. “I think it would be best if you go to your daughter, Lore,” said Picard kindly. “Zoe may be the true target in Ceres’ scheme.”

The human looking android lifted his head and for a moment he was skeptical that the man would actually trust him.

“Lore? Are you alright?” the captain asked when the synthetic man failed to move.

“Not really,” he confessed. “Lee was always so reluctant to talk about her life before she knew me. I always thought it was because something terrible had happened to her. Now I know better. Getting to know all of you to some degree over the past few months I can see that it was because you’re her real family. She must have missed you all so much. That’s probably why she never talked about any of you.”

“Wesley really is very unique and special. She’s been a part of our little family since the Enterprise-D was first commissioned. Well, in some shape or form,” the older man said with a touch of humour.

“You mean she grew up here?” Lore added not quite understanding his meaning.

“You really don’t remember when Data and the others found you and reactivated you, do you?”

“No, sir. Not at all. Did I know Lee back then; when she was just a girl?”

“That’s a bit of a complicated question,” Picard replied. He felt it was a bit out of his depth to try and explain how Wesley used to be boy. It was probably unnecessary for the time being. “Maybe you should ask her sometime, when things have calmed down again.”

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What I am doing? What was I thinking? Not too sure...but there’s a lot of it to come :/


	19. Two Lores

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suspicions rise when Wesley can’t be sure that Lore is really who he claims to be.

Wesley met Data and Geordi in Engineering. She looked a little like she had seen a ghost. 

“I just left Lore with our daughter, so he had better be my Lore and not an imposter,” she grumbled as she sat down at the main subspace relay station.

Data sat beside her and gave her a look of worry. He tried not to dwell on her phrasing of ‘my Lore’. “We are 97.6% certain that Earl is Lore and this new person is not,” he told her bluntly.

“Okay, so I’m going to replay the transmission,” Geordi said as he tried to ignore the tension between his two friends.

The recording began; Wesley’s voice was first to speak. “Juliana, I know you’re probably upset...”

There was soft laughter in a familiar male tone. “Lee, it’s Earl again. Why do you so often think I’m Juliana?”

“Earl?”

“Yeah. Disappointed?”

“Why are you calling?” The woman’s confusion was more than obvious. 

“It’s time for Zoe’s piano lesson,” the man said lightheartedly.

“That’s silly,” giggled Zoe. “Why don’t you just come here to teach me?”

“Because, baby girl, you’re too far away,” Earl replied.

Geordi and Data exchanged a look. Whoever this man was he had the interaction down perfectly,

“Papa, did you leave?” Zoe asked sadly. “You didn’t say goodbye.”

“No, Zoe. Your Papa is still here,” Wesley said with a slight tremor to her voice.

“Oh right...I was just playing a game. You know, like we used to,” said the unknown man as he tried to backpedal. “Why don’t I go and we can have that lesson in person.”

Then the transmission cut off.

“If I hadn’t been so freaked out I would have tried to bluff him into talking longer,” Wesley confided as she addressed her superiors.

“I’m surprised he didn’t react when Zoe called him ‘papa’,” noted Geordi as he started to try to trace the relay back to it’s source.

“It would have almost been believable as an altered, or spliced piece of audio, however he was definitely responding in real time,” Data offered as he too tried to analyze the transmission. “Wesley, it is important for you to know that we now have reason to believe that the transmissions from Earl were being monitored.”

“Monitored? By who?” she asked with alarm.

“Perhaps by Ceres,” Data said frankly.

“But Ceres is in the Brig,” she said with rising panic.

“Yeah, she’s made some highly questionable claim that Dr. Soong created another android and he was also named Erol Soong Hahn,” explained Geordi.

“Are you kidding me?” she blurted as she stood and took a few steps towards the door. “I have to go. I have to be sure that the android I left minding my daughter is in fact my android.”

“Your android?” Data repeated with offence. This time he couldn’t leave well enough alone.

“Oh you know what I mean, Data,” she snapped.

“What do you mean?” he countered.

“Stop it. You two can have your lovers’ quarrel later,” Geordi interjected with exasperation. “Just go, Wes.”

She gave him a look of gratitude and then took off running.

“I do not feel as though you are on my side in this, Geordi,” Data said with a touch of hurt.

“Your side? Data I just want Zoe and Wesley to be safe, okay. Whatever else goes on between you and her and your brother is none of my business.”

“Fine,” the golden android said quietly. “I was on your side when you decided to be with Robin.”

“Yeah, but that was because you already wanted to be with Wes; you just didn’t realize it yet,” Geordi said as he continued to follow the maze of bread crumbs through subspace.

Data wanted to say something clever, but deep down he knew his friend was right. So he kept his mouth shut and focused back on what he was doing. Then his stomach made a noise.

“What the hell was that?” Geordi wondered as they both looked down at the android’s middle.

“I believe I am hungry again,” Data said sheepishly as his gaze met Geordi’s. “It will have to wait.”

“Can Oona wait?” his friend asked with concern.

Data considered the statistics and outcomes if he were to make the infant wait the several hours it could take them to complete their task. “No,” he replied frankly.

“Then go grab something and get back here as quickly as you can,” Geordi told him with an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

Data smiled brightly. “I enjoy that I am now able to see your expressions more clearly now that you do not require a VISOR.”

“Thanks, smart ass. Now hurry up,” Geordi grumbled playfully.

The smile fell from Data’s face as he walked away. He decided that maybe he misjudged his timing and shouldn’t have been so upbeat while the atmosphere was so tense.

.....

Wesley charged into her quarters and took her daughter by the hand. When she began leading her away Lore jumped up from where he was sitting and followed them.

“Where are you going?” Lore demanded, feeling as anxious as she was.

“I’m going to take Zoe to stay with Robin. We need to talk and it might get ugly,” Wesley told him frankly as she paused momentarily to address him.

“Mama, I want to stay with Papa this time,” Zoe cried as she tried to pull away from her mother.

“It’s just for a short time, I promise,” she reassured the little girl as they entered the corridor.

Zoe pouted and swiftly moved away. “No, I don’t want to go.”

Lore came over and crouched beside his daughter. “Zoe, it’s okay. We just need to have a grown up conversation. It will be very boring. Wouldn’t you rather spend time with Jayden?”

Zoe hugged her father tightly and he picked her up. She was sulking into his shoulder. Wesley followed behind them to make sure he took her to the right place. When Robin answered her door she smiled at the pair before giving her friend a questioning look.

“What’s going on?” asked Robin as she stood in the doorway.

“We need you to watch Zoe for a little while. Lore and I need to discuss a few things,” explained Wesley.

“Oh, we’re calling you ‘Lore’ again, I see,” Robin observed smartly as she looked the human looking android in the eyes.

“Seems that way,” he concurred as he walked past her and proceeded to deposit his daughter on the woman’s couch.

Robin pulled her friend over to the side and lowered her voice. “What’s really going on, Crusher? Does this have something to do with that woman in holding?”

“Something like that,” Wesley replied curtly. It never ceased to amaze her how much Robin knew about what was going on despite being on leave. “I know you have your hands full already, but I would really be grateful if Zoe could stay with you right now.”

“It’s fine. Honestly, I don’t mind,” her friend commented as she watched the synthetic man fuss over her son in his swing seat. “You’re sure he’s Lore? He seems awfully sweet natured.”

“Yes, Robin. That’s what I kept telling everyone. He’s not a monster,” she said adamantly; although she wasn’t entirely sure that he was her Lore at the moment.

Robin smiled sadly. “I’m gonna lose you again, aren’t I?”

“Lose me?” Wesley asked. She wasn’t sure where the question was coming from.

“First the academy, then all that Traveller nonsense and then you were arrested. Please don’t do anything rash,” Robin begged.

“Thanks for watching Zoe,” Wesley said plainly as she chose to ignore her friend’s irrational plea. “And don’t let anyone take her unless it’s me, or Data okay?”

“Sure, Crusher. Just so you know, you owe me one,” her friend called as she left again.

As Wesley took off back towards her quarters she could sense that Lore was close behind her. She didn’t stop until they were back inside the secured door.

“That other ‘Earl’, he sounded just like you,” Wesley told him as she kept some space between them. “It was uncanny.”

“Was there a visual?” Lore asked with interest.

“No, but there wasn’t always with you either. That is if it was you we were talking to.”

“It was me,” he told her as he tried to get closer to her.

“Did you sing that song?” she inquired as she circled around him.

“‘Heart and soul’; yes.”

“Did you answer me when I sent a message out to Juliana?” She was fairly certain that time was him because of his slurred words and had slower responses.

“Yes, we joked about how I wasn’t going to jump on a transport. Looks like I did anyways,” he said with a shrug.

“Why would someone suddenly have such an interest in you after all this time?” she wondered aloud, mostly to herself.

Lore tried to hold her by the shoulders but she moved away from him again. “Lee!” he cried as he tried to catch her arm. “Lee, stop pulling away from me. We need to discuss this.”

“Then talk,” Wesley said sternly as she backed up. “But don’t touch me.”

“Lee, it’s me,” he said with desperation. “I know that I’m still struggling, but you have to believe me. I’m Lore. I’m your Lore.”

“Prove it,” she rebutted. “Tell me something. Tell me anything only you and I would ever know.”

“That first night when I snuck you into my room; you were terrified. You didn’t sleep at all, but I never said a word because I was a coward. I just wanted you to like me so badly.”

She shook her head. “More, tell me something else,” she said insistently as she leaned on the back of a chair and dug her fingers into the cushion.

“I..I carried you home from the village on my back,” Lore said dramatically. He was met by another shake of her head. He struggled to think of something he never told his parents. “I hated it when you gave Data more attention than me, like when you helped him in the garden; I cried in your lap when my father’s latest matrix failed; I used a hammer to smash your broach and then I buried under the trees by the reservoir.”

Wesley was finally paying attention and she started to move closer to him. “Why did you destroy my broach?” she asked quietly.

“Because you had a bad dream and you wanted me to get rid of it,” he said with a shrug. “I didn’t need to know why and you never told me.”

She closed the distance between them and kissed him. He was more than happy to oblige her and quickly responded by deepening the kiss. When they parted she smiled and looked genuinely happy.

“It is you,” she whispered. His kiss felt right this time. When she’d kissed him before it must have been his lack of memory and new timid nature that made it feel so wrong.

“I told you it was,” he teased as he pulled her back in for another kiss.

“What do we do now?” she asked as she leaned her head on his shoulder. “What about Delia?”

“Forget Delia. There’s something I don’t trust about her,” he said as cupped her chin and tilted her head her to meet his gaze. “When all of this is over I want you to marry me properly so no one can whine about you not being my legitimate wife,” he added quickly before she could dismiss him.

“Fine. Then you’re not going back to Juliana. I want to keep you here where Data and Geordi can monitor your progress properly,” she said with a smile.

“Really? You want me to stay?” he asked unsure if she was sure.

“Yes, Lore. In fact, I demand that you stay; especially if we get properly married,” she told him lovingly and kissed him. 

Lore had forgotten how easy and wonderful it was to kiss her. It made him want to do it over and over again.

“What about Data?” he dared to ask when she needed air. “I guess you’ll have to tell him there’s no more free access to your bedroom.”

“I’m sorry I gave into him,” she said full of shame. 

“It was a cry for help as far as I’m concerned,” he said with affection. Then he leaned down and kissed her again.

“We should go and get Zoe,” she whispered with reluctance.

Lore nuzzled her ear before replying, “Maybe we could have a few more minutes.”

Wesley nodded and took his hand. Together they went into her bedroom and sat on the bed. 

“How long has it been?” he asked unsure. “I remember making love the morning of the day you disappeared.”

“We were together the night before Maddox tried to over-write you,” she told him, her heart full of regret and sorrow. “You fell asleep afterwards and snored,” she added.

“Juliana fixed that,” he told her with a smile. “Pran is a very light sleeper and I was starting to piss him off when I stayed over.”

Wesley laughed at his admission and the two began to undress. Lore was much faster and was in his underwear within moments. 

“I can’t believe you and Delia were lovers,” she babbled as she watched him try to fix his messy hair after yanking his shirt over his head.

“She knew about my gag reflex,” he confessed as he gave her a look. “But I still don’t remember her, so it doesn’t feel real to me.”

“Do you think this new android has the same programming?” she wondered as she removed her boots.

“I dunno and frankly it’s weird to think about it,” he commented as he frowned at her progress. “You’re undressing at a snail’s pace. Speed it up, Lee.”

Then Lore started helping and Wesley cried out in false fear of his attack. When he pulled her top off she turned her back to him. He was about to kiss her bare shoulder when he saw the remnants of the red scratch marks.

“Tell me your cat did this,” he moaned.

Wesley looked over at her shoulder and winced. “Sure, it was the cat.”

Lore dramatically flopped down on the bed, defeated. Then he covered his face with both hands and groaned loudly in frustration over his brother’s handiwork. Wesley removed the rest of her clothes and straddled the distraught synthetic man between her thighs. Lore slowly removed his hands and gazed up at her. She began tracing invisible lines to connect the freckles on his chest. His handsome human features softened and he pulled her down to him. 

As they kissed he flipped them over so that she was now under him. He was gentle and attentive as he positioned himself on top of her. As they moved together she mused that his love making was so much more mundane than Data’s, but she would rather be tangled up in his embrace than his brother’s any day. Lore gazed into her eyes then and her heart broke. She couldn’t understand how he was suddenly so real and alive and holding her again. 

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “It’s okay, Lee. I’m not going anywhere.”

She nodded and tried to stop crying. It was as though her grief was making a final curtain call to remind her of what she had lost and how damned lucky she was to have him back. He held her tightly to him afterwards as he continued to comfort her. He too was feeling relieved to finally feel as close as they once had been.

Just as Wesley was starting to drift off, she remembered Zoe and knew they should get up and retrieve her from Robin’s quarters. 

Before she could say anything Lore suddenly tensed every muscle in his body and looked a little unfocused. Wesley gave him a look of confusion that quickly turned to concern.

“Lore, my love, what are you doing?” She was worried that he’d become overwhelmed while he let himself remain unguarded with her.

He didn’t respond. His head tilted and very gently disengaged himself from her limbs. Then he got up and began dressing himself in silence.

“Lore this isn’t funny. Talk to me please,” she pleaded as she wrapped a blanket around herself and tried to stir him by shaking his shoulder.

The human looking android swatted her away like an annoying bug and continued to dress. When he was done he stood and marched out of the room.

“Lore!” she cried in fear as she watched him go.

......


	20. Flipping the Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geordi has an internal struggle as he tries to make sense of his evolving relationship his Data. Then things go off track when a crisis arises.

Meanwhile Data and Geordi were still tracking down the signal from the message.

“I think I found the source,” announced Data before taking another gulp of his liquid meal.

Geordi tried not to get annoyed at how calm the android was behaving at his discovery. “Where did come from? I couldn’t quite pin it down.”

The engineer had followed the signal as far as he could, but it had bounced and been redirected so many times that he was losing track of which misdirects he had investigated and which he hadn’t. That was when Data took over. He found it much easier to log and track the different paths. Almost as though whoever had sent it in the first place planned for only an android to be able to trace it.

“It originated from the same location as my father’s last laboratory,” Data informed Geordi, though he wasn’t sure that he liked how obvious it was. 

“I thought Starfleet and Maddox tore that place apart,” commented Geordi, unsure.

Data recalled the classified information that he had read years ago. His head tilted and he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing happened.

“What? What’s wrong now?” Geordi asked as he furrowed his brows and followed the android’s eyes down to his stomach.

Instead of replying, Data took his friend’s hand and placed it over his mid-section off to one side. Geordi wasn’t sure why until he felt something knock his palm from inside the android’s belly.

“Did that seriously just happen?” Geordi asked with a giddy laugh. 

Geordi knew anyone walking by would think they were behaving more than a little strangely with his hand resting where it was and both of them grinning from ear to ear, but the Chief Engineer didn’t care. It was just as exciting as when his son had first starting kicking. He quickly recalled how he and Robin celebrated with a very passionate kiss and as his steely augmented eyes met Data’s golden irises he suddenly felt a rush of something unfamiliar.

Geordi pulled his hand away as the smile left his face. He awkwardly cleared his throat as he turned his attention back to the screen. “Should we inform Captain Picard about our findings?”

Data noted the change in his friend’s demeanour, but didn’t comment. “Yes. I believe that would be the best course of action.”

“What are the odds that this android went back to where it all started and rebuilt the lab?” Geordi wondered as he continued to look away.

Data had been wondering the same thing. “Although highly unlikely, if he were a replication of my father he would know how to and be quite capable of doing so.”

As the two officers rose from their seats to start towards the Bridge they bumped into one another by accident. When they stopped in the turbolift Data felt the need to address his concerns.

“Are you experiencing difficulty, or discomfort due to your ocular implants, Geordi?” he asked softly.

“No, Data, why?” his friend replied and hoped that this wasn’t about to escalate into something more than it was.

“You seemed to have become uncomfortable,” he observed, “and then we accidentally collided.”

“Right...well, my eyes are fine,” Geordi assured him.

“Was it disturbing to feel Oona move? Perhaps I should have asked before presuming you would wish to experience such a thing with me,” Data added with a frown.

“No, Data. That was really amazing,” he responded with a sad smile. Geordi had wanted to experience it with him. He just hadn’t realized how much until that very moment. “I guess I just got a little distracted.

“By the message we were tracing?” the android questioned.

“Sure...and by you, I guess,” he admitted with a shrug of one shoulder.

“Computer hold lift,” Data commanded. Once the lift was stopped, he turned towards his friend. “If you were not physically unwell, then I must conclude that you were emotionally upset,” the android said as he regarded the other man. “What is wrong?”

“Data, drop it. I’m fine. You didn’t need to stop the lift just to ask me that. Let’s just get to the Bridge and report to the captain.”

“Am I distracting you from your work?” Data pressed. “Is my need to provide for Oona upsetting you; or is this in regards to our earlier conversation?”

Although it was a little to do with earlier, it wasn’t upsetting him. It was doing something else altogether and Geordi didn’t want to make a big deal over some passing thought that went through his head. It wasn’t important. In fact, if he could he would never give it any more attention. Their relationship was just as Data had stated. He was with Robin and Data was his best friend; nothing was going to change that.

Then Geordi suddenly remembered all the times he was forced to endure Data’s affectionate interactions with either Grady, or Wesley. It never bothered him before. Well Grady had bothered him, but that was because he didn’t think the kid was good enough for his very special, very unique friend. 

Wesley on the other hand wasn’t a problem. Of course he was infatuated with Robin at the time and felt guilty about taking her from the guy—because at the time Wesley was a guy. Which made him realize that Wesley had asked him once if Data would have preferred if she had remained male. It was such a laughable concern at the time, but now he wanted to know for himself.

“Data, would you have been more faithful to Wes if ‘she’ was a still a ‘he’?” Geordi asked bluntly after a moment of silence.

“I do not believe that gender had anything to do with my indiscretion,” Data replied just as frankly.

“Really? ‘Cause you made it sound like you just wanted Grady for his body. That having sex with him was more relevant than how your felt about him,” Geordi pointed out. He wasn’t trying to belittle his friend, he was just trying to understand his motivations.

The android blushed, he was sure of it. “Do you really wish me to answer you? You made it fairly clear that you did not want to know anything intimate about my relationships.”

“Yeah, Data. I’m sorry I was so rude before,” Geordi said with a sigh.

Then android considered his question. “It was not just how having sex with him made me feel, but I enjoyed watching him and seeing how it made him feel,” confessed Data so quietly his voice was almost a whisper. “I had only ever experienced that with Tasha. Most often when I am with Wesley, I become quite selfish and find myself lost in what she can give me and how she makes me feel. I sometimes do not reciprocate as easily. I am uncertain what that says about me.”

“I think it speaks volumes about how you feel about her,” Geordi told him. “Data, you keep saying how much you want to be with her, but you seem to have a better relationship when you aren’t physically involved. Maybe you should consider finding someone else and appreciating her friendship and family attachment to you.”

“That is what she suggested as well,” Data confided as he found it harder and harder to look his friend in the eye. “When I think of not being with Wesley I feel very alone. The only other person I have ever felt so close to was you, Geordi.”

It was Geordi’s turn to blush and look away. “Well, see? We’ve gotten along for years and we’ve never had a physical, or romantic relationship,” he said as nonchalantly as possible.

“That is because you are like a brother to me,” Data assured him. “Besides, I have only had emotional capability for a short time. Although, I suppose if you had come to me before I had emotions I would have been open to the idea of a sexual relationship.”

“Excuse me?” His friend almost choked on his words he was so surprised.

“You have always been there for me and know me best,” the android elaborated. “You are also the most knowledgeable of my inner workings. Who better to have a reciprocal, intimate relationship with than you?” 

Then Data asked the computer to restart the lift as though they were done clearing the air. “I understand your preference for women and your desire to remain friends,” he added as the lift hummed back to life. “I believe it may have saved us both from inadvertently alienating one another.”

Geordi was still stuck on his friend’s admission to being open to him in away he had never imagined before. He took a cleansing breath as he reminded himself again that he was with Robin and one of these days he would wear her down and they would actually get married. He just wasn’t sure why she always made things so much work. Data wasn’t like that. Data had Wesley living in his quarters mere weeks after they first became involved. If they had stayed together consistently they would probably be married by now. Not that Geordi cared. Because he didn’t. 

He didn’t want to know what it was that Data could do that made Grady stick to him like glue, or Wesley forget about her other commitments and jump into bed with him. He didn’t need to know. It was none of his business. The fact that Data was showing this vulnerable, paternal side wasn’t new. He had done it with Lal and more recently with Zoe. One had nothing to do with other. 

He was just frustrated about Robin. Robin whom he loved; Robin who was the mother of his child. But he had to admit that when Data had come asking if they could help him as a surrogate he was a little disappointed when Robin had said no. But that was about a child, not about anything sexual. The dreams he had about watching Data and Robin together were just dreams. And when he had dreamt about being intimate with Data himself, those were just dreams too.

“Look Data,” Geordi began, wanting to smooth things over.

“Computer halt turbolift. Redirect destination to the Brig,” Data stated as he cut off his friend.

“What? I thought we were going to speak to Picard?” Geordi blurted, obviously confused by the change in plan. Then the engineer noticed that his friend wasn’t exactly paying him any attention. “Um, Data. Are you alright?”

Clearly the android was not alright. It was as though Geordi was suddenly invisible. He had been so lost in thought that he’d missed the change. Data’s posture was rigid and his face devoid of expression.

“Data, come on. What’s happening to you?” Geordi asked with rising tension as he waved his hands in front of the android’s face. 

When the lift doors opened Data knocked Geordi over to one side and out of his way.

“Data!” he called one last time to no avail.

“Robin Lefler to Comdr LaForge,” chirped his comm badge. 

The engineer hit the badge to make his quick reply. “Not now, Robin. I need to contact security. There’s something wrong with Data.”

“Well, that makes two androids,” she replied with obvious annoyance. “Lore just took Zoe and Wesley is freaking out. He won’t respond, even to her.”

“Fuck, what the hell is going on?” Geordi commented harshly. “Robbie stay with Wes and notify security. I’m going after Data; he’s headed to the Brig.”

“Be careful G. This strikes me as all around bad news,” his girlfriend warned.

“I hear you. The feeling’s mutual,” he grumbled as he closed out their communication.

......

When Geordi caught up to Data he was releasing Ceres from her cell in the Brig. The security officer was lying on the floor by his post. The engineer could only hope that the man was only unconscious and not dead.

“You see? I told you she was demon!” shouted Jararn at Geordi as he came into the space.

The two synthetic life forms turned towards the Chief Engineer. Data had taken the security officer’s phaser and he aimed it at Geordi as he turned to face him. 

Geordi put his hands put in surrender and took a step back. “Hey now. I just want to talk,” he said as calmly as he could manage.

Ceres fixed her icy glare on him as she smiled wickedly. “Your friend isn’t in the mood for talking. He has one task and that’s to retrieve me and leave the Enterprise,” she explained.

Both Ceres and Data started to move towards Geordi. The engineer tried to get his friend to look at him but he really seemed to only focus on his escape route. So he moved off to the side and decided to follow behind them.

He was surprised to find that they took a turbolift up to a cargo bay and not to one of the shuttle bays. Geordi hid behind a large container as he watched the two go over to the transporter pad. Data began entering his command codes while Ceres waited and watched the door. A few moments later Lore entered with Zoe in his arms. She looked understandably upset but clung to her father none the less.

“Are we ready?” asked Data as he looked to the white haired woman.

“We’re waiting on one more,” she said as she continued to watch the door. 

Then Delia entered the room. Geordi was about to warn her and he tried to grab her sleeve, but missed it. It was a good thing he had because she joined the little group.

“Where were you? You were supposed to be here waiting for us,” complained Ceres.

“Ugh, that stupid woman was interrogating me about whether Lore had said anything that would have indicated why he would betray her,” Delia informed her co-conspirator. “If Wesley shows up can we please hurt her?”

“Sure, Delia,” Ceres conceded as she tapped the comm. “We’re ready at our end, Erol,” she said.

“Standing by,” came the reply.

Geordi was sure it was the same voice that they had heard in the recording. The voice that sounded just like Lore and Data. He figured that this must be the third android. That they had been planning this all along.

As the group gathered in the large cargo transporter Data remained at the controls. When he was given the signal he beamed the group off the ship to their destination. Then he set the controls to automatically deliver him to the same coordinates once he was detected on the platform.

Geordi was about to follow suit when Wesley came barreling into the room and knocked into him from behind.

“Wes, what the hell?” he demanded.

“We have to go after them!” she cried as she started tapping the controls on the transport console to bring up the last beam-out coordinates. She had the computer shift them ever so slightly so that they would hopefully go unnoticed when they beamed in. “Grayson is taking his sweet damned time coming up with a plan. Are you coming with me?”

“Wes we have to follow protocol,” Geordi told her, although he was about to do exactly what she was suggesting before she showed up; knowing that whatever ship was out there would be out of range in moments.

“It’s not just Data and Lore, Geordi. They have Zoe and Oona too,” she said harshly as she jumped up and onto the platform. Geordi shook his head before running up to meet her. 

“Two to transport,” Geordi called out. When the computer refused to comply he called out his command codes and they shimmered into nothing.

......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bum bum bum!
> 
> Thanks to everyone who is still reading this bizarre trip. As I edit these chapters that I wrote a few back it’s a bit strange to wander through this story. More drama to follow!


	21. Renegade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley is confronted with her past as well as her less than stellar personal conduct.

The two officers beamed into a dimly lit room. It appeared to be empty, Geordi did a sweep of the area to be sure since his vision was still miles more advanced than Wesley’s.

“All clear,” he whispered. “You realize that no one knows we’re here and we’re unarmed.”

Wesley shrugged her shoulders. “We’ve been in worse situations,” she rebutted flatly. They could both feel the sudden jolt as the ship undoubtedly broke into warp speed and away from the Enterprise.

“Oh good, I’m glad you’re staying calm about all of this,” he grumbled.

“Hey, Geordi,” she began, ignoring his snide remark. “Do you remember when Data went rogue and locked everyone out of the computer so that he could hijack the Enterprise?”

“You mean when Dr. Soong activated his homing program to bring him to his lab?” he asked. She nodded up at him and he sighed. “Yeah, I had that same sinking feeling. We actually figured out that some of the messages coming from ‘Earl’ were actually coming from somewhere close to Dr. Soong’s last known lab.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, Data and I were on our way to report to the captain when he went all psycho on me,” he said with a frown. “I just hope someone thinks to check our progress on tracing that signal.”

“Look, Geordi, maybe I should go in first,” she said firmly. “If something goes wrong one of us needs to be able to find a way to contact the Enterprise and catch these guys.”

“Wes, Delia is with them,” he said with urgency. “I think she’s been lying all along.”

“That deceitful...” she stopped before a serious of curse words filled the empty room. “Fine, so why was she in on it? And what exactly is going on?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, but I’m thinking it has something to do with that other android. I heard his voice over the comm again.”

“From this ship? I thought you said the message came from the lab?”

“Maybe it was redirected somehow to mislead us or something,” Geordi said with a shrug. “Hopefully that’s where we’re heading and the Enterprise will meet us there.”

“If that’s the case it has to be me to go in there. I knew Noonien Soong. If this new android has any ties to the real man then I might be our best shot at getting through to him,” Wesley told her superior.

“Alright, but Wes...Delia has it out for you. Watch yourself,” Geordi warned her. “And keep your comm open so I know what’s going on,” he added as he tapped his badge.

She wasn’t sure why he would think such a thing about Delia, but she trusted his judgement and didn’t argue. She didn’t know why, but she felt the need to hug him before she resumed her detached professional attitude. Geordi reciprocated easily and tried to look as though he wasn’t losing it inside. When they parted she tapped her badge.

Wesley activated the door to the room they were hiding in and slowly peaked around the frame to see if anyone was around. It appeared to be quiet, so she snuck out into the lowly lit hallway and tried to stay as out of sight as possible. 

She found her way into a larger area that looked as though it was the Bridge or Command Center of the ship. Sure enough Ceres was standing with Delia and another robotic individual. They looked like thy might be from the same construct as Ceres. There was no sign of Data, Lore, or Zoe.

When the two droids left out a side door she took a chance and came up behind Delia.

“Hello, Nurse Ashton. Fancy meeting you here,” Wesley quipped as she put the woman in a choke hold from behind.

Instead of replying, Delia head butted her in the forehead. Then stamped her heel into the bridge of one of her feet. When the human woman refused to let go, Delia flipped her over her shoulder.

“You seem a little out of practice,” snarked Delia as she looked down at Wesley who was suddenly flat on her back. She was about to slam a boot down into the other woman’s stomach, but Wesley caught her foot and defended herself by holding it and knocking the green skinned woman off her balance. Now Delia was the one on the floor and Wesley stood for a moment to catch her breath. 

That was when Ceres came back into the room unseen and punched the air out of her. Wesley doubled over as she gasped for air.

“Now, now, Ceres. Is that anyway to treat a guest?” asked a familiar voice.

Dark brown boots stopped just in front of Wesley’s face where she crouched clutching her midsection. Slowly, as she regained her wits, she started to follow the man’s long legs up to his overly familiar face. This man—or android—had a human complexion and also looked just like the other two. Only his hair was much more salt and peppered. 

The man bent down low to her and cupped her chin. “Hello Lee,” he said with a cold smile. “Are you proud of your deception?”

Before she could answer he yanked her up by her arm and forced her to sit in a nearby chair. Her arms fell onto the armrests and the man leaned over her in a very threatening, un-Soong-like manner.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wesley replied quietly, obvious fearful.

By now Ceres had Delia standing and the two women watched their cohort with interest. 

“Watch yourself, Erol,” warned Ceres. “The last man to threaten her gained himself a cut throat.”

“That’s right. You’re not just a liar, but a murderer now,” he said coldly as he moved his face back from her ever so slightly. He clicked his tongue at her in a disapproving fashion.

Wesley hadn’t thought about Maddox or what had happened for quite some time. Even as they spoke she didn’t feel as though they could be talking about her. She would never kill anyone.

“I didn’t mean to lie to you. I was protecting temporal law,” Wesley told him.

“Temporal law? You think that’s more important than the pain you caused?” he rebutted, his voice full of disgust for her. “You claimed to love my son...to love his family; but it’s all thanks to you that we turned on him. It’s your fault that we had no foreknowledge of the demise of Omicron Theta; and dare I say it’s your fault that my wife is dead.”

“So you do believe that you’re Dr. Noonien Soong,” she muttered as she regarded his human-looking face. It was more synthetic in appearance than Lore’s new organic-like flesh. It was more like what either golden android had looked like with a simple change in complexion. She was a little baffled by his negative reaction to her. It was a far cry from Juliana’s warm reception.

“You stupid girl. I should have cast you out when I had the chance,” he said cruelly with his face so close to hers that she could feel his hot breath. 

She closed her eyes against him and when she opened them again a moment later he was standing with Ceres. He was conspiring with the robotic woman and she hated that should couldn’t discern what they were saying. She vaguely noted the new arm band that Ceres was wearing. It looked as though it had some sort of importance.

“You’re not Dr. Soong,” she said flatly as she dared to draw attention back on herself. She was in no way restrained to the chair she was sitting in, but she felt as though she may as well have been. She was too afraid to move from it. “He was a good, kind man. He would never recall his sons to do anything criminal.”

“There you go again with your wild stories,” he said with a sort of derision. “You always were full of them.”

“Erol has no intention of making his sons do anything criminal. We simply wish to free them from the notion that they owe organic life forms anything of themselves,” explained Ceres. “Your little girl is lucky. She will be raised to know the full potential of her heritage.”

“What are you going to do Data and Lore?” she asked and prayed that her comm link was still open and Geordi could hear them.

“As Ceres said; set them free. Start them over with a clean slate,” said Soong with self-satisfied grin. “I was so hoping that Lore would remain Earl and not have to be reset again so soon. But I suppose I have you to thank for his need to rediscover himself.”

“You can’t seriously want to wipe them of all their experiences. It would be like killing them!” Wesley blurted.

“Think of them like phoenixes rising from the ashes of their misconceptions,” he said with a curl of his lip.

“Data has been developing and growing as a sentient individual for over thirty years!” she cried. “You can’t do that to him!”

“No? You think I should let him remain perverted by sexual desires and the need to fornicate with organic life forms who will only use him, like you?” countered Soong with a scowl, his voice full of venom. “It sickens me how easily you pass yourself back and forth between them.”

“What’s worse is how she’s made them both believe they’re in love with her,” added Delia with disgust.

“Why you, Lee? What makes you so damned special?” Soong asked with distain as he came to stand over her again.

“You tell me,” Wesley snarked as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ve been able to give you not one, but two hybrid grandchildren.” It was a bit of a bluff, but she really felt that she needed to distract him. She didn’t want another Maddox fiasco.

Soong stopped smiling. He straightened his posture and looked over at Delia. “What is she talking about?”

“I don’t know,” replied Delia. “I know everything you do, Erol. Zoe is the only little girl I found.”

Wesley closed her eyes tight. It sounded to her as though Data hadn’t given up his secret to them yet. She hoped against hope that meant that he was still resisting them. Since Lore also knew about Oona there was a chance he was resisting as well.

“What of a second child, Lee?” Soong questioned as he came back to her side and took her hand. She had a foreboding feeling that there was no tenderness in his gesture and if she didn’t give him the answer he wanted he would harm her. 

“Ask Data. He knows where she is. He was charged with her care,” she said vaguely.

Soong applied a light pressure to her hand, but let it fall unharmed. “Watch her. I want to speak with my sons.”

Ceres nodded and came closer. She didn’t touch the woman, but was close enough to pose a threat.

......


	22. Rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Data and Lore have a bit of a heart to heart, but don’t exactly get along. Lore starts to fall apart as Ceres takes matters into her own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for violence against androids.

Lore sat cross-legged on the floor with Zoe cradled in his lap. The little girl was asleep, hugging his forearm. Data was leaning on the nearby wall. He seemed to be running an internal analysis. They’d been told that they weren’t prisoners but neither one believed for a moment that they weren’t. 

“As soon as we have returned to the Enterprise I will have Geordi remove these homing programs. I truly believed when our father passed away that they would never be used again,” said Data as he came back into focus.

“How’s ‘you know who’?” asked Lore from his place on the floor.

“She will be fine for the time being, however I fear that if we are manipulated further, or I become unable to sustain her supportive care she will not last for very long on her own,” the golden android told him.

“Fuck,” grumbled Lore. He ignored his brother’s disparaging look. “At least there’s two of us and only one of him. We could take him. That Ceres fembot must be susceptible to damage. I mean she may be sturdy, but not indestructible like we are.”

“He is our father...or brother,” added Data, not overly clear which term was best to use. “We should do what we can not to cause any irreparable harm to him.”

“Fine. I just can’t figure out a timeline for all of this,” Lore huffed in frustration.

“Perhaps I can help,” Data said with a tilt of his head as he joined his brother on the floor. “You and I must have deactivated within a week or so of one another on Omicron Theta. For some reason the colonists were able to wipe my memory banks and transfer their personal journals in their place. Though frankly it was unnecessary.”

“Dumb colonists,” grumbled Lore. “You’re sure it wasn’t father dearest protecting his secrets?”

“I had not considered that option. It may be within the realm of possibility,” continued Data. “You, however, did retain your memories. Though you were quite unenthusiastic to be reactivated.”

“That tracks. I would have been without Lee and Zoe...not to mention our parents.”

“For the duration of my time on Earth I spent several years learning and adapting to my new way of life. Then I entered Starfleet Academy; worked my way up the ranks and came to be on the Enterprise.”

“Right and how many years was that?”

“Twenty-six,” Data informed him.

“So in all those twenty-six years all we know about our parents is that they spent maybe a decade together after leaving Omicron Theta and then would have gone their separate ways,” Lore commented with a frown.

“That leaves an appropriate amount of time that Dr. Soong would have been without Juliana’s company and before he recalled us both to his new lab on the jungle moon,” surmised Data.

“I was with Father for fourteen years before he deactivated me,” Lore said with a sigh. “Who knows what he could have created and how long they were together after Mother left him. Ceres wasn’t exactly forthcoming with how long they had been together. You know, since it was the other Lore and not me who created her.”

Data made a face at his brother, but did know what he meant. He was a little envious that he had fourteen years of memories with their parents that he would never know. He considered reviewing the copy of his brother’s memories that Maddox had made, but thought it would feel like an invasion of his privacy now that he could recall them himself.

“I wonder if Father was involved somehow,” the golden android noted. “Perhaps Ceres was his idea of a companion, much as Lee became your companion.”

Lore shifted in place. Data read the gesture as a display of emotional discomfort rather than physical discomfort. 

“Data, I really think you need to understand that even though we didn’t always get along, you were always my little brother. Even now, despite this ridiculous infatuation with Lee, I still love you.”

“Thank you, Lore,” Data replied a little taken aback. “I must confess that I have enjoy our camaraderie as well since your recent reactivation.”

“Yeah, it sounds like I was a bit of headache before,” Lore mused, unable to feel offended by his brother not liking him much before.

“You were...not a good person,” Data said with an inflection that seemed to imply that this was the nicest way of putting things.

Lore laughed a little and patted his brother on the shoulder. “I can’t believe that Lee stayed loyal if I was really that bad.”

“Wesley. Her name is Wesley,” Data corrected him. “It has always been Wesley, yet somehow you found the need to change it.”

“Are you actually trying to pick a fight over some nickname, right now?” Lore asked with brows raised in disbelief.

“Did she not lie and tell you that ‘Wesley’ was her brother’s name?” Data added after a moment.

“Yeah, so what?”

“One of the important things that you have now forgotten is the fact that Wesley used to be a man.”

Lore narrowed his eyes at his brother and gave him dismissive wave of his hand. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing yourself. You can’t convince me that the woman who I witnessed give birth was once a man.” 

He shook his head before adding, “Besides, what difference does it make? I still love her; Wesley. Your jealousy and misdirection isn’t going to change that. We had three years together. We have a daughter together. From the sounds of things you knew her for quite a lot longer, but never felt any desire to more than just friends.”

“Because I did not feel anything at all for most of that time. I have only had emotional capability for less than two years,” Data pointed out. “It is also worth noting that Wesley was fourteen when we first became acquainted and was more my student than friend for quite some time. Then he went away to the academy. Our romantic dynamic only developed recently.”

Lore caught the use of ‘he’ when Data mentioned the academy and it made him ask, “How long has Lee been a woman?”

“Before she met you, I would say she was physically female for approximately three months.”

“Three months?” Lore repeated a little louder than intended. He checked to see that he hadn’t inadvertently woken his daughter and then lowered his voice. “And she was involved with you that whole time?”

“Yes, that is correct,” Data noted with a sly smile.

“So you made Wesley want to be a woman?” Lore questioned with concern. 

“Yes and no,” his brother replied with some hesitation.

“Elaboration, please.”

“Wesley had already been considering the change. However it was due to a personal trauma that he felt the need to try out the change in the first place.”

“So there was a trauma,” Lore muttered.

“I am afraid that you were the trauma,” Data informed him with a frown.

“Excuse me?” Lore blurted with indignation. 

Although in his heart he knew the truth. Lore could vividly remember his argument with the woman where he was sure he had been the one who had hurt her. Wesley denied it profusely, but he knew that it must be true. He could also see now that his brother was the man she had claimed to love; the man who had cheated on her. This revelation made him angry, but he knew now wasn’t the time or place to discuss it. Besides it was entirely possible that they had already had this argument—which they had—and he’d forgotten it. 

“You know what, don’t tell me,” he added as he looked away.

Zoe made a noise in her sleep, but didn’t wake. Data watched with interest as his brother leaned down and kissed the girl’s temple. He felt a pang of guilt for speaking out of turn about Wesley’s past. He never would have guessed that his brother could be so loving to anyone from his known experiences with him—experiences that were now wiped from Lore’s memory.

“Wesley seemed to imply that we were all friends in the past,” the golden android whispered. “Even though Father struggled to accept her at first, they too became close.”

“They did,” confirmed his brother. “That’s why I just can’t understand what you and I are doing stuck in this room and waiting for someone who says he’s our father to decide our fate. Our real father would never treat us like strangers.”

“He must be capable of affection. It stands to reason that Delia believed they were in love with one another...If Ceres did not know you then it was their affair that offended her,” Data said thoughtfully as he reconsidered the little they knew about the new android.

“Yeah, seems like once a woman falls for a Soong android they’re all the more likely to fall for another one,” Lore mused. At another time this would all be so laughable. “Ceres said she found it unsettlingly human...so maybe we just need to play on his family bonds.”

“I have also considered that we may be able to take control over Ceres if we can pin point a ‘safe word’,” added Data after some thought. “She was designed as a sexual companion. Perhaps that aspect of her programming still exists.”

“Well don’t look at me. I wasn’t the one who programmed her remember? That would be nice though. Say a word and she ceases to function,” Lore said with a frown. Then he changed topical direction. “Look, I know you’re currently obsessed with my wife, but what is the deal with you and the engineer?”

“You mean Geordi?” Data inquired with a tilt of his head. “What sort of deal?”

“I mean that you two seem awfully close,” Lore added with a knowing look.

“Geordi is currently involved with Robin Lefler,” his brother stated unchanged by whatever he was insinuating.

“Yeah, but was he formerly involved with you?” 

“We are friends; best friends,” Data retorted plainly.

“Oh, so the vibe is ‘never have we ever’ and not ‘we used to be a thing’,” Lore teased.

“I assure you that there is no ‘vibe’ and you are mistaken,” Data reassured him.

Suddenly, the heavy door slowly slid open; the noise waking Zoe. The girl looked around and clung onto her father’s arm. Lore swiftly picked her up and both androids stood at the ready.

Erol Soong entered the room; their replicant father. He was unarmed and alone. He gave each android a curious look before focusing on Zoe.

“Hello boys. I think it’s time that you both come clean with me,” said Soong sharply. “Your little waif of a woman is here. I suspect that she’s not alone, but we haven’t been able to detect anyone else. Long story short, she confessed that there’s another child. So why don’t you both drop the act of false loyalty and tell where the child is?”

Lore adjusted Zoe so that she was looking over his shoulder and away from their captor, but remained silent. Data gave his brother a side glance and stepped forward.

“There was a second child, however she was not as successful as the first. She failed,” Data told Soong with conviction.

“Did she fail in the same way that Lore was destroyed?” Soong asked in a mocking tone. “Because here he stands and you both look very cosy.”

“If you really were our father you’d realize that Zoe is scared and you would let us go,” grumbled Lore, ignoring his demands altogether.

“I’ll let you go, boy,” replied Soong coldly, “If you can tell me how things work with the three of you? Do you take turns serving Lee, or do all three of you fornicate together?”

“It strikes me that you have a disturbing fixation on our personal lives,” said Data before his brother could lose his temper.

“Well, no matter. Soon I’ll start you both anew and you’ll never have to face the shame of it all,” Soong told them as he turned to leave. 

“Oh no, old man,” quipped Lore, “I just got my mind back. There is no way in hell I’m letting you wipe my slate again.”

Data quickly noted how his brother fell into old habits when speaking to whom he believed to be his father.

“You’ll do it because it’s what’s best for you,” retorted Soong coldly.

“Is that what is best for me as well?” inquired Data with a hint of desperation. “You would wipe away an entire lifetime of experience, knowledge and friendship and risk sending either one of us into cascade failure as we struggle to rebuild and relearn everything?”

“Sounds like bullshit to me,” muttered Lore.

“Do you always speak so crassly in front of your girl?” snapped Soong.

“You tell me. You seem to believe you know me so well,” snarked Lore in reply.

Before Soong could answer, Ceres entered the room. She had a side arm and both Lore and Data noticed the technology strapped to her arm. She came up to Soong and whispered something to him. Soong looked down at Data’s middle and then he moved a little as though to get a glimpse of the android’s physical profile. There was no mistaking that his waist line was several inches wider than his brother’s.

Data had a sinking feeling that his secret was out, but tried to pretend he was oblivious and held his bluff.

“Hmm, I should have expected as much from you, Data. You always were the clever one,” commented Soong without giving away what he knew to be the truth. “We’ll have to remove it before reset him,” he added to Ceres.

Ceres nodded and pressed a few buttons on the control band on her forearm. She activated a force field; however instead of separating the captives from their captors it only surrounded Lore. The android instinctively held his daughter so that she continued to face away from what was happening. He was not happy about all the frightening things that she was going to have to come to terms with later. 

The Soong android seemed to pick up on Lore’s anxiety. He put a hand on Ceres’ shoulder to stop her from moving forward.

“Give Zoe to me, my boy,” he said so convincingly that Lore actually believed that he was his father for a split second.

“No. I need to keep her safe,” Lore muttered as he held the girl even tighter.

“I’ll take her to her mother. She’ll be safe with Lee,” he offered kindly as he had Ceres drop the side of the field closest to him; allowing room for the little girl to go to him.

Lore reluctantly put Zoe down to stand on the floor. “Go to Grandpa,” he told his daughter. 

The girl looked shyly over her shoulder and then shook her head. “No, Papa. I want to stay with you,” she replied.

“It’s okay, Zoe. Grandpa will keep you safe. Nothing bad will happen,” Lore said in another attempt to ease her fears and get her to comply.

“Come on, sweetheart. I’ve missed you. We’ll spend a little time together,” said Soong.

“Zoe, be a good girl and do as we ask,” said Data, lending his confidence to the idea. He too felt it would be best if she was spared from whatever they had planned.

Zoe gave her father a quick hug before walking slowly over to the other human looking android. He gently took her hand. Then he nodded for Ceres to reactivate the field before leaving the room.

“Remove the infant, or I’ll do it for you,” commanded Ceres as she took a step closer to Data and pointed her weapon.

“No. She is too delicate. I cannot allow you to remove her,” he said bluntly.

“Damn it, brother, if we both perish right now what will her little, short life even matter?” grumbled Lore from his corner.

“All life matters. I blame you and your bad influence for what Wesley did,” Data argued back.

Lore had no idea what he was talking about. “In case you’ve forgotten—I’ve forgotten a lot of things. So whatever sick thing I did, or people I hurt—I don’t remember!”

Something about being confined in this room with the forcefield separating him from Data was giving Lore a very familiar and ominous feeling. He could almost see someone lying prone on the bench behind him; someone that looked an awful lot like Geordi. 

“You might take what you want from my body, but you’ll never have my mind,” said an echo of a woman’s voice that only he could hear. It was followed by a warning from that voice in his head that he hadn’t heard for some time.

“Watch out, Lore, or you might remember something you shouldn’t,” warned the voice.

“Shut up!” Lore yelled out loud as he covered his ears in a futile attempt to block it out.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Ceres slightly unnerved by the human looking android’s outburst.

“He has partial amnesia. Though this is the first instance of agitation that I have witnessed,” explained Data. “Lore it will pass. I too experienced a form of inner torment when I first discovered my emotional capability.”

Lore still looked confused and upset, however Ceres seemed satisfied and turned her attention back to the golden android. “Show me the child and I will determine whether or not you can keep it,” she interacted.

“God, you’re such a fucking hypocrite, Ceres,” laughed Lore with derision. “You of all people should know the violation of someone doing something to you, or body without your consent.”

“Keep laughing and I’ll be sure to visit all kinds of torment on you without your consent, Lore,” she snapped in response.

“I’d love to see you try,” he replied. Lore wanted to appear intimidating, but the truth was that he was coming unravelled and his hands were shaking so badly that they were vibrating. A fact that did not escape her notice.

“Hmmm, maybe just watching helplessly as I rip your brother apart will be enough for now,” she mused. “Take off your shirt,” she commanded as she returned her focus to Data.

Lore knew she was right. He was becoming more afraid for his brother by the moment. “Don’t do what she asks.”

“I am confused, Lore. First you said that I should comply and now you feel that I should not?” retorted Data.

Ceres rolled her icy eyes at them both and decided to take matters into her own hands. She tapped a few buttons on the device in her arm and Data’s whole body went rigid.

“Take off your shirt,” she commanded again. 

Data complied without a word in an almost robotic fashion. He was staring straight ahead, but looked unfocused. Lore surmised that she was using the same commands that she had somehow initiated when they were still on the Enterprise.

“Show me the child,” she said once again now that he was nude from the waist up. 

Data pressed his navel with two fingers. A sort of disk of bioplast compressed slightly. Then he turned it like a dial and it caused a large panel of his abdomen to release. His synthetic skin and musculature opened like a door on a hinge to reveal the neatly constructed unit inside him that held the infant. 

Lore was awestruck and couldn’t look away from the terrible scene unfolding next to him. Ceres smirked at her tiny prize.

“I don’t understand your concern, Data,” she said softly as she approached him. “I can just take out the whole unit and allow her to remain safe within it.”

Lore watched in horror as the ghostly droid touched his brother’s face in mock affection before taking the unit firmly in both hands and mercilessly ripping it out of him. 

“No! He’ll crash!” cried Lore helplessly.

When the unit disconnected it left Data with exposed ends of wires, sensors and fluid excreting from the feeding tube they had installed. In short, he looked as those he’d had his guts torn out, which in a way he had. Ceres looked unaffected by his traumatic state and turned swiftly to leave with her bounty. 

Data slowly collapsed to the floor as he lost more fluid and his systems started to react to the injury. Although he was still in some sort of trance, Lore could tell that his brother was suffering. 

“Data! Data it’s going to be alright. Father will come back. He’ll see what that monster did to you and fix you right up,” Lore babbled as he tried to reach for his brother and was stopped by the force field. 

......


	23. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geordi comes to Data’s rescue and Lore reunites with his family.

After what felt like an eternity the door slid open again. It wasn’t the Soong android this time but Geordi who entered the room. He had heard Wesley tell the others about Data knowing about the infant, but he was not prepared for the sight that greeted him. The dark skinned man seemed to go pale as he took in the scene and realize what had happened to his friend.

“Data!?” Geordi blurted as he fell to his knees and instinctively started to try and stop the android from losing any more valuable bio fluids. 

“It was Ceres,” said Lore, his voice trembling. “She took Oona.”

Geordi didn’t look up at him, but continued to work quickly. “Why the hell are you just standing there? Why aren’t you helping him?” he asked in a harsh, accusatory manner.

“Because I’m locked on the other side of this damned field,” Lore rebutted quickly as he touched the invisible barrier, causing it to spark to prove his innocence.

“Damn it! Why is he so unresponsive?” Geordi complained with dismay.

“That witch hacked him and put him in a stand-by mode, or something,” Lore explained.

Geordi desperately wanted to find a way to release Lore from his imprisonment so that he could help him, but he also really needed to stop the fluid loss as quickly as possible. It wasn’t the loss that could kill him, but the fact that many of his functions relied on it as coolant and lubrication. Without it Data could literally cease up, or burn out.

The engineer finally got the leaking to stop and reconnected the sensors and wires so that it would be safe to ‘wake him’. Then he ran over to the outside of the door. Lore didn’t understand what the man was doing at first until he saw and heard the field disappear.

Lore was instantly on his knees by his brother’s side and pulling up his own shirt. Geordi rejoined them in time to see that the other android was retrieving some sort of cylinder from inside his own body cavity with very shaky hands.

“You can replenish Data with this. He might not have enough fluids otherwise,” Lore told him as he handed the engineer the container. Then he closed himself back up and showed the man where to attach it, “Here, Geordi.”

Geordi couldn’t help but worry about Lore and the intense emotional feedback he was experiencing. “You sure you’re okay without this?” he asked unsure. 

Although impressed that Lore would be so willing to sacrifice for his brother, Geordi also knew it wouldn’t do them any good if they both stopped functioning properly.

“Yes, of course. Just fix him,” Lore said as he continued to tremble.

Once the cylinder was in place and connected, Geordi replaced the section of Data’s outer abdominal wall and made sure it was closed properly. Now there was no evidence of the trauma save the fluid that had soaked into Data’s pants and smeared onto his golden skin.

“Do you think I can just reactivated him as usual?” Geordi asked quietly as he met Lore’s gaze. 

“Let’s fucking hope so,” Lore replied with obvious distress.

Geordi reached in behind his friend’s back and clicked him back to ‘on’. 

Data blinked slowly and stared up at him. “Geordi, I am on the floor again,” he said softly as he tried to understand why.

“Yeah, you are,” said Geordi with some relief. “Are you okay, buddy? Do you think you can get up?”

Data seemed to contemplate this notion for a moment and looked to his brother. “Lore you are quite unwell. You must calm yourself,” said Data as he took his brother’s hand.

“You almost died right in front of me and you’re comforting me?” Lore said in disbelief as he pulled his brother up and hugged him profusely.

Lore began sobbing into his brother’s shoulder as they held onto one another. Although touching, it made Geordi feel very out of place.

“Lore, we will be alright. Geordi is here now,” said Data calmly as he gave his friend a look of confusion. “Geordi, you are here...how are you here?” he inquired as though just realizing the strangeness of this fact for himself.

“Yeah, well I couldn’t let Wes run off and try to save everyone all by herself. I mean, last time things didn’t go so well,” he replied with an awkward shrug of his broad shoulders.

“Then it was the truth, Wesley is here as well,” Data observed as his brother released his hold and started to move away.

“We need to go,” said Lore as he tried to regain his composure. “I need to get Zoe back.”

Data went to stand with Geordi’s help and faltered. “I believe I need another moment while my body finishes redistributing the bio fluids and recovers from the shock of the assault I endured.”

“You mean you were awake and felt the whole thing?” questioned Geordi as he sat on the floor and continued to keep his hands on Data’s arms.

“In a way, I was,” Data confessed as he too felt an overwhelming wave of sorrow wash over him. He tried to fight it back and knew he didn’t have time to sit with it right then.

Geordi seemed to sense his pain and without thinking he moved his hands from Data’s arms to his face and captured his mouth with his own. 

Lore looked away as the two men, human and android, shared a moment and a kiss. “Hmm, best friends,” he muttered to himself.

When they parted Geordi looked embarrassed by his unguarded response to almost losing his friend. He tried to redirect the focus of their intentions.

“Lore, why don’t you go on ahead and see what’s happening,” advised the engineer. Then he caught the android’s sleeve. “But don’t engage anyone if you don’t have to and come back here and tell us what you find out.”

Lore gave him a quick nod. He stopped in the doorway and turned back to face Geordi again. “I don’t know if I did something to you in the past or not, Geordi...but let me just say that if I did then I am so terribly sorry for it,” Lore confessed before bolting from the room.

“I thought he couldn’t remember any of that,” commented Geordi as he looked to Data for a possible explanation.

“I do not know what he remembers,” offered his friend. “He became quite disturbed when Ceres attacked me.”

“How very ‘Lore’ of her,” Geordi huffed. Data thought so too, but then he recalled that the new story was that Erol Soong had programmed her AI and not Lore. 

Geordi tried to use his sleeve cuff to wipe some of the fluid off of the android’s face. Data caught his hand and held it for a moment. As the two friends became lost in one another’s gaze Data felt the need to say something. 

“Geordi, I...”

“Data if you’re going to bring up what happened with Lore and what he made you do to me; don’t,” Geordi told him. “It’s forgotten as far as I’m concerned.”

“I was not,” Data admitted quietly. “I was only going to ask about why you kissed me.”

His friend didn’t want to acknowledge the ‘why’ just yet. He wasn’t entirely sure himself, or if it was even important anymore. “Data, it doesn’t matter. We’ll get Oona back and you’ll be good as new soon enough,” he said with affection.

“Geordi I would like to ask for your forgiveness for what I am about to do,” said Data auspiciously as he watched his friend’s expression.

“Sure, Data,” he replied without a second thought.

The android very gently placed a firm hand behind Geordi’s head and brought the man’s mouth to meet his own. His kiss was a little more insistent and self-assured than Geordi’s had been.

After a few moments of self-indulgence, Geordi pulled back. “Data we can’t,” he whispered as though they were committing some sort of crime.

“I almost died, Geordi,” Data replied firmly. 

“Fuck, why couldn’t I have figured this out before?” the engineer whined before kissing the android for a third time. 

Geordi had to admit to himself that Wesley was right; Data was Data and he didn’t need any other reason to rationalize what he was feeling.

When they paused so that Geordi could catch his breath, Data echoed him in his sentiment.

“Fuck,” he moaned in a voice full of need. 

The engineer couldn’t help but chuckle at Data’s choice to copy him. The android so rarely cursed and it was funny to hear the word twice in succession.

“Do you think you can stand now?” Geordi asked as he moved back onto his heels to observe the very lustful look on Data’s golden features.

The synthetic man frowned as he composed himself. Data knew that now was not the time to lose himself in his desires. “Yes, I believe I can,” he stated after a long moment of silence.

......

Lore crouched behind a bulkhead and watched the interactions between Delia and Ceres. If he didn’t know any better he would have to say that these two had an agenda all their own. Delia carefully opened the incubation unit and tried to take a scan of the synthetic infant.

“I don’t understand,” said the nurse with annoyance lacing her voice. “I can’t pick up any readings from her. She might as well be a chair or a lamp.”

Ceres seemed not to believe her companion and grabbed the medical tricorder from her to see for herself. She scowled as she too came to the same conclusion. “Well, she’s obvious alive,” Ceres grumbled.

“Maybe she’s like you. No life signs. Maybe we need a more finely tuned computing tricorder,” noted Delia.

The white haired woman groaned with frustration. “We’ll just remove her and see what happens,” she muttered.

“What the hell are you doing?” demanded Soong as he entered the room. Their leader rushed between them to examine the child. “Are you insane? Did you physical rip her out of him?” he asked obviously alarmed by the state of the unit which was covered in the other android’s bio fluids.

“He wasn’t cooperating,” said Ceres coldly.

“Then you should have used the codes that I gave you and taken your damned time,” he responded harshly. “If I go back in there what state am I going to find Data in? Did you at least put him back together when you were done tearing him apart?”

“You didn’t hurt him, did you?” asked Delia as she tried to move the unit out of her partner’s reach now concerned that the robotic woman wasn’t being careful on purpose.

“You two are overly sentimental,” Ceres complained. “I did what I had to. When we arrive at our destination you’ll piece him back together and wipe his memory files. What difference does it make?”

“Delia, I want you to take the baby to Lee. She’s in the room we set aside for my granddaughter,” Soong instructed, almost kindly.

Delia nodded nervously and scooped up the unit in her arms and left the room. Ceres looked very unimpressed and stood squarely in front of Soong. 

“If it fails you can make another one,” Ceres said unmoved by his concerns. “They’ve been trying to establish her all wrong. It’s disgraceful, really.”

“Oh, you know what’s best now? You’re suddenly an expert in my work?” Soong snapped.

“More than Delia,” she told him. She used the woman’s name like it was derogatory in some way. “I still don’t understand why you needed her help. She’s an organic.”

“She got further with Data and Lore than you could have,” he countered as he turned to leave. “I have to go check on my sons. Stay here if you know what’s good for you.”

Soong left the room and Ceres picked up the tricorder and threw it at the wall. It broke into pieces on impact. Lore was watching her arm; he really wanted to get the remote control device from her.

......

Wesley stood abruptly as Delia entered the room and placed the damaged incubation unit on the desk against the wall. 

“Mama, what is that?” asked Zoe as she started to run over to get a better look. Wesley caught her daughter and stopped her from interrupting Delia. She guessed that her little girl hadn’t understood that the nurse was no longer their friend.

“Zoe, Sweetie, I need you stay back while I see if I can help Delia,” she instructed calmly. The cherub nodded and went to sit back on the small sofa.

“Can we go home soon?” the girl whined as she put her head down on one of the pillows.

“Soon, Zoe,” Wesley said plainly as she moved closer to Delia and the unit. “What’s going on? Why is Oona out of Data?” she asked with as she lowered her voice. She was very concerned that Data might be in the same state as the broken unit.

“I’m not entirely sure,” said Delia as she began to try to open the unit. Whatever distain she had for the ensign seemed forgotten in her state of distress.

“Don’t open it,” Wesley said with concern as she dared to catch the nurse’s hand.

“I have to,” replied Delia. “The unit no longer has a power source and we can’t tell how she’s doing now that she’s been disconnected. You don’t want her to die, do you?”

Wesley kept her mouth shut as she watched the nurse open the hatch and disengage the very small infant. She never had the chance to see Oona before this moment. She looked slightly smaller than Zoe had when she was born and it made her fearful that this wasn’t going to end well.

Delia seemed to hesitate and not want to pick up the baby. Wesley jumped in and took over, bringing the tiny android infant to rest on her chest. She slowly moved back to sit with her daughter. The nurse watched but was still frozen in place.

“Don’t touch, okay Zoe,” Wesley whispered to her daughter. The three year old nodded and leaned on her mother’s shoulder to get a better view.

“Is it a doll?” Zoe inquired softly.

“No, Sweetheart,” her mother replied. “She’s a baby, like Jayden, but much younger.” She could barely feel the rise and fall of the infant’s breathing. Of course if she was like Data the breaths weren’t necessarily for oxygen but to regulate her temperature. “You can relax, Ms. Ashton, she’s breathing and I can feel a good, strong heartbeat.”

“Your daughter’s right,” muttered Delia without coming any closer. “She looks like a baby doll. Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Zoe was fairly undersized when I had her,” Wesley said with a half shrug. “Not this small, but close. I am worried about how long she’ll remain functional.”

“I should go and get Erol. He’ll know what to do,” offered Delia as she left the room.

Wesley was a bit bewildered when the half-Orion left her alone with both children and no supervision. She supposed there wasn’t really anywhere for them to go since they were still at warp and there was no indication that a rescue was underway. It was also unsettling to know that they had removed Oona from Data and she was unsure about what was happing elsewhere on the ship.

The door slid open again. Both Wesley and Zoe looked over and smiled when they saw Lore rush into the room.

“Papa, the bad people found you,” Zoe called quietly. 

Lore put a shaky finger to his lips and made shush sound. He wanted to be happy that he was reunited with them, but he couldn’t find anything uplifting about seeing the tiny infant out of her incubator.

“It’ll be okay, Zoe,” he reassured her as he came closer.

“I want to go home,” she sulked. Wesley petted her daughter’s head as an attempt to soothe her. 

“Why is Oona with you?” Lore whispered as he came to kneel next to his little family.

“Delia brought her here and then didn’t know what to do with her,” she told him as she tried to remain calm. “Is Data okay?” she asked with alarm. She could already see how his hands were trembling. “Lore, are you okay?” she added as she put a free hand on one of his to calm him.

“No, not really. I don’t understand what’s happening. Data was a mess, but Geordi fixed him. He stayed with my brother and I came out to scout the ship,” he rambled, his voice starting to how signs of his feedback. 

“Geordi fixed Data? Thank God,” she said with some relief. 

“I know. That man’s a genius. Remind me to get him a really great gift when get home,” Lore said as he tried to find a silver lining in their terrible circumstances. “How is she?” he added as he very gently touched one of baby’s tiny feet. 

It was not only his first contact with her, but his first realization of how real and alive she was. “We have to get her back inside of Data, I think.”

“That unit looks trashed,” Wesley told him with a frown. “I don’t think it could happen even if we wanted to put it back.”

“So what? We just let her slide into disfunction?” he questioned as his voice broke slightly in with the despair he was feeling.

“What choice do we have?” Wesley rebutted.

“Put her next to your heart,” Lore advised he started to help the woman open her shirt. “Maybe your biorhythm can keep her steady.”

Wesley highly doubted it would make any difference, but she was afraid for him in his current emotional state and wanted to do anything he asked of her. So she slid Oona into her undershirt before doing up her uniform shirt around the new addition.

As Lore helped her to secure the baby, Wesley took a moment to hold his gaze and the two kissed. She only hoped that her biorhythm would help him to calm down too. “It’s going to be okay, Lore.”

The android tried to look convinced as he picked up Zoe and held her close to him again.

“Somehow,” she added mostly to herself.

......


	24. Change of Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things become clearer as some become more complicated.

Erol Soong entered the holding room just as Geordi had finally gotten Data to stand on his own. The replicant android didn’t quite know who this man was, or where’d he’d come from, but he suspected that he had come on board with Lee.

“Data, are you alright?” Soong asked as he turned his attention towards the golden android.

“Yeah, he’s fine. No thanks to you and your mercenaries,” retorted Geordi on his friend’s behalf.

“Who are you?” Soong inquired as he stared the man down.

“This is Geordi LaForge,” Data said with an out of place politeness. “Geordi, this is the android who believes that he is my father.”

“Where’s Oona?” demanded Geordi. He had no patience for the supposed pleasantries.

“She’s with Lee and I should probably go check on her, but I needed to make sure Data was in one piece first,” Soong informed them both. 

He was suddenly less concerned about the protocol of keeping them prisoner and more concerned about what had been going on behind his back. “I think it would be best if you both came with me.”

Geordi and Data exchanged a quick look and both decided not to ask any questions and go with the other android.

The trio met Delia in the hallway. She looked out of place and little shaken.

“Delia, what are you doing here?” asked Soong as he took her roughly be the arm. 

“I came to find you,” the half-Orion retorted as she gave him a suspicious look. “Why are Data and Mr. LaForge wandering around freely?”

“Geordi helped Data,” was his quick reply. “I think this is all getting out of hand.”

“I told you Ceres was untrustworthy,” Delia told him quietly, although Data didn’t miss a word. “You should have left her with some compliance still programmed into her. She’s becoming unreliable and unpredictable.”

“I’m starting to see that,” agreed Soong, though unimpressed with her boldness to point out his poor judgement.

When they arrived at the room where Wesley was with the two children, they were surprised to find Lore with them as well.

Lore instinctively stood once more with Zoe in his arms and he couldn’t help the flash of déjà vu. 

“Lore, it is alright. Erol Soong wants to do what is best for Oona,” said Data as he came closer to his brother.

“What was best for her was leaving her where she was,” Lore snapped.

“Once we get back to my lab on Terlina III I can assist her development. Right now we just need to keep her going,” explained Soong. “We should arrive within the next hour.”

“That’s too bad,” said Lore as he put his daughter down. “You see we don’t want to your prisoners any more.” 

Then Lore lunged at the replicant android and knocked him into Data who standing behind him. 

“Lore stop it!” cried Wesley too late. She did her best to cover Oona in case they got out of control.

Geordi pulled Delia out of harms way. It didn’t matter to him if she was friend or foe, it wouldn’t help anyone if she inadvertently became injured. 

Data could see no other course of action and pushed back against the two other androids causing them to topple the other way and onto the floor.

“Lore, enough. We must discuss things with civility and not attack one another,” Data said sternly as he stood over the other two.

“You can’t really blame him. He’s probably been dying to have it out with me for years. Since I was only ever human he couldn’t raise a finger for fear of doing irreparable harm; but now he can let off a little steam,” said Soong. Then he stood and offered a hand to Lore to help him stand. Lore scoffed and got himself up without anyone’s help.

“You’re right, old man,” Lore said in agreement. This time when he went to hit his so-called father he found it harder to act. His arm stopped mid-punch with his fist at the ready. “God damned Maddox and his freaking protocols,” he yelled in frustration.

“Allow me, brother,” commented Data as he yanked Soong by one arm to whirl him around to face him instead of Lore. Soong gave the golden android a look of confusion just before getting clocked in the jaw.

“Geez, Data,” Geordi wince as his fist connected. “What happened to civility?” He had never known his friend to be so violent and now he had hit two androids—with his own face—in the span of one week. 

Data was transfixed on his fist for a moment. Almost as though he too was questioning his act of violence. During the span of his distraction, Soong looked ready to fight back, but Zoe interjected. 

“Stop! Be nice!” called Zoe as she ran over and grabbed at her uncle’s pant leg. “Don’t hit grandpa!”

“That man is not your grandfather,” said Data firmly as he knelt down to his niece.

“Zoe, come here,” said Delia with open arms. The little girl looked unsure at first but then went over to the nurse. “Everyone is just a little upset right now.”

“Delia, what are you doing?” asked Lore, not trusting the woman anymore.

“She’s confused and scared,” she told him. “I think the three of you should work this out somewhere away from Zoe and Oona.”

“I think she’s right, Data,” added Geordi. “You three need to come to some sort of agreement or we’ll all be locked away until he decides what to do with us.”

Soong gestured for Lore and Data to follow him out into the hallway. Data hesitated and gave his brother a look. Lore didn’t pick up what he was trying tell him. Reluctantly the brothers followed the third android out of the room.

Geordi managed to pick Zoe up and bring her back to with him next to her mother. The man noted how quiet Wesley had been and he put an arm around the woman’s shoulders.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly. Wesley leaned into him a little and shook her head.

“I don’t understand what’s happened either,” she confided. “Erol Soong was so vicious to me earlier and now he’s almost reasonable.”

“You call that weird physical altercation reasonable?” Geordi asked with a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, things are strange, but I think maybe they can sway him.”

“Don’t mistake a moment of kindness for a change in his plans,” said Delia as she moved closer to the couch. “Erol still plans to reset them.”

“Why?” inquired Wesley. “I still don’t completely understand what the sudden urgency is.”

“When Lore took a stand against humanity on behalf of all synthetic kind it started something. Maybe Lore was too insane to follow through and he was stopped by his brother, but others like Ceres were moved to action. They want to make a proper stand.”

“Wait, are you talking about war?” Geordi asked with interest. “Just how many others are there like Ceres?”

“You’d be surprised,” she snarked. “Not all of them are as intelligent, or well rounded as she is either.”

Wesley didn’t like the sound of the other woman’s remark. Ceres wasn’t very balanced at all in her opinion. “So why are you helping them? What do you care?”

Delia smiled and bent down closer to her face. “Why do you think Erol exists in the first place?” she asked with an arrogant air.

“Ceres said Dr. Noonien Soong felt compelled to leave behind a legacy,” offered Geordi.

“Exactly, but he didn’t realize that Erol would have the same needs and desires that he had had,” noted Delia. “Dr. Soong created the synthetic reproductive matter for Erol; not for Data. Oona should be his and mine.”

“Well, she isn’t and you should be thanking me for saving you the grief. Oona is completely synthetic,” rambled Wesley.

“Thank you,” Delia said flatly as she took a step closer and regarded the infant where she was half hidden beneath Wesley’s shirt. “She doesn’t look real.”

“Delia, how do you fit into all of this?” asked Geordi as he observed the nurse’s peculiar detachment,

“Dr. Soong created Erol. Like any normal son he became restless and took off on his own for a time. I met him by accident, believing he was Lore.“

“So the story you told Lore about knowing one another was the truth?” inquired Wesley as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“I know it’s hard for you to hear that Lore had other lovers besides you, but he did,” continued Delia. “He disappeared one day...when he was recalled by his creator. Something I didn’t understand until I met Erol.” She paused for a moment and looked away. “Erol was the one who created Ceres; he upgraded her AI. She was never too keen on our friendship, but after awhile Erol realized I was much more favourable company than that robot.”

Delia sighed and leaned onto the desk where the incubation until still lay open and useless. “It was later that we discovered his father was dead,” she told them. “Ceres begged Erol to leave me and forget about his humanity, but he wouldn’t go. I admired him for his devotion to his creator’s dreams despite his mixed feelings about being made to serve as his duplicate. In a strange way Erol and Lore are a lot alike. At least in my experience of knowing them.”

“So Ceres did blame you as the reason she had to abandon Erol,” Geordi surmised.

“Yes she did. So much so that she went out and found others like herself and shared her gift of Soong derived AI with them,” Delia concluded with a frown. “She tried to get Erol to champion their movement, but he wouldn’t. Not at first.”

“So why would he, now?” asked Wesley in a whisper.

“What happened with Maddox and Lore hit him hard. He could no longer stand idly by and watch as biological cyberneticists like him dictated how androids should be treated. We had been following Lore after learning that Dr. Soong had managed to recall both him and Data to his lab,” she explained further.

“You mean spying on him?” Geordi noted.

“He was curious to see what would happen after he encountered the pod of delinquent Borg drones.”

“Why didn’t Erol intervene when Lore made his move on Data?” asked Wesley.

“Isn’t it obvious? If Lore could manipulate Data, he could manipulate Erol if he’d wanted to,” Delia replied. “So we kept our distance.”

“Seems like Maddox wasn’t the only one monitoring Lore’s communications while he was on Jaros II,” muttered Geordi.

“Actually we were monitoring Maddox. The prison encoding was too difficult to break, but Maddox had that handled,” explained Delia with a quick shrug of her shoulders.

“And Ceres?” pressed Wesley.

“Ceres returned to Erol with twelve new comrades and a plan. I think she still doubted that Erol would be the leader she needed; someone who would further advance their technology,” she responded sharply, conveying her distaste for the droid and her ideas.

“It’s too bad that Lore isn’t the same disgruntled android he used to be,” Wesley told her with a smirk.

“It doesn’t matter. Erol and I had been hopeful to retrieve Zoe,” she elaborated frankly. “When everything happened with Lore we thought we could convince you that Erol was Lore and take Zoe off your hands. Then Earl got over eager and made the trip himself. I was working on a way to get him to take Zoe with him off the Enterprise, but he was too resistant to me.”

“So Ceres stepped in and did things her way,” Geordi added with a shake of his head. “Oh boy, that’s why you were so off your game.”

“She’s a menace. Just look what she did to that infant,” Delia commiserated as she gestured to Oona. 

“Delia, will you help us stop her if it means saving Zoe and Oona?” Wesley dared to ask as she searched the other woman’s face for any sign that she might.

The half-Orion paused before standing to her full height and crossing her arms over her chest. “No. Erol has them under his command. I’m not afraid of them.”

“Maybe you should be,” Wesley snapped back. 

“If Ceres can tap some buttons and get Data to do whatever she wants what makes you think that she isn’t influencing Erol the same way?” Geordi added after some thought.

Delia frowned but remained silent. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t had the same thought. She just wasn’t willing to tell them that.

......

Out in the hallway the three androids with very similar faces watched one another in silence for a long period of time. The truth was that they were about to hash things out when the realized that Delia was spilling her guts in the other side of the door. So they stood and listened.

“Is it possible that Ceres could be influencing you?” asked Data when Delia stopped talking.

“Not at all,” said Soong with confidence.

“Yeah, like you would actually be aware if you were,” muttered Lore mostly to himself.

“Let me guess, you still don’t remember knowing Delia,” Soong asked Lore with a piteous look.

“No. I haven’t retained any of those memories, or if I have I can’t readily access them,” Lore informed him. “So Delia lied. She never left you,” he added after a beat.

“Delia had been in Starfleet when she was younger and became reinstated just before the Enterprise-D was destroyed,” replied Soong.

“So much fuss over such a little girl,” commented Data in disbelief.

Lore knew the comment couldn’t possible be a reflection of his true feelings. “When you had Lal I’m sure you would have done anything to keep her safe,” he said offhandedly. “It’s the same for Zoe. I’m sure father saw her as one his own creations and knew that if she still existed somehow that she needed protecting.”

“Who is Lal?” wondered Soong as he looked back and forth between the brothers.

“She was my daughter,” answered Data. Then he addressed Lore. “The more important question is how did you know who Lal was?”

“You told me about her,” he replied as he gave Data a strange look.

“Not during our interactions since your reactivation,” Data rebutted.

“That’s ludicrous. I remember it clearly. We were discussing all the important people in your life and how they’d somehow treated you as ‘lesser than’...oh fuck.” Lore grimaced and put a hand to press his temple. This was no longer a game. “That was just before I made you do terrible things to Geordi.” It wasn’t a question. For some reason it was all that much clearer to him now.

“Hmm, seems like wiping your slate isn’t such a terrible idea after all,” observed Soong.

Lore took a few steps away from the other two androids. Then he leaned one hand on the wall as though to brace himself. “What the hell was wrong with me?” he demanded. 

Although the question was undoubtedly rhetorical, Data felt compelled to answer his brother. “Your mind was unstable and your thought processes became delusional due to the emotions chip that Dr. Soong installed into your positronic brain. A chip that had been meant for me. You told Wesley that you took the chip because you wished to save me from the the torment of an emotionally capable life.”

“Seriously?” questioned Soong.

“Maybe your life was rainbows and sunshine, but mine was filled with anxiety and feeling worthless,” Lore shot back at Soong defensively.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me or your mother that you felt worthless? We would have helped you,” Soong told him with a pained expression. 

“You are not my father!” Lore shouted with frustration.

“None the less; wasn’t it because of your human emotions that your could love Lee?” offered Soong.

“By the time I stole that chip, as far as I was concerned, Lee was dead and so was Zoe,” he explained full of raw distain. “Their loss and the grief of losing everyone I ever loved was enough to make me do it. I didn’t want my baby brother to become like me.”

“Lore, perhaps now is not the best time to force your recollection of these memories,” said Data with concern for Lore’s wellbeing.

“Why not? If father dearest’s android ghost wants to destroy me all over again I think it’s the perfect time to remember how I was at my worst,” replied Lore, unmoved by his brother’s concerns. 

“Wesley still found it in her heart to love you even after knowing you at your worst,” Data reminded him.

“She didn’t know me. She wasn’t there,” snapped his brother. “You were there; Geordi was there.” And he could see it all now; the darkness; the cruelty. 

“And Geordi has forgiven you, as well as myself,” Data told him adamantly as he came closer and put a reassuring hand on his brother’s shoulder. “We know it was not entirely your fault.”

“So touching,” mocked Ceres as she approached.

All three androids turned their attention to the interloper. “Ceres, what is our status?” chirped Soong as he tried to assert control over the scene.

“We’ll be arriving at our destination in fifteen minutes,” she replied as she trained her weapon on Lore. “I suggest our two ‘guests’ return to their room.”

Soong frowned before nodding his compliance. “Better go with her, boys. I can’t have you wandering around the ship when we arrive.”

Lore looked to Data for any sign that he should resist. Unfortunately, Data seemed to relay the opposite impression. So they both walked amicably back to their room with Ceres following closely behind them.

Data was unsure about how his brother was handling his newly recalled memories. As they arrived outside the door of the holding room he got his answer when Lore burst into a maniacal fit of laughter.

“Stop that and get inside,” commanded Ceres harshly. She pointed her weapon at him, but he continued to laugh.

“Lore, please contain yourself,” advised his brother. 

The human looking android didn’t seem to hear either of them as he continued to laugh loudly. 

“Shut up, Android!” yelled Ceres. She was about to discharge her phaser to stun him when Lore moved almost too fast for the naked eye to see and caught her wrist, forcing her to fire at the ceiling.

“That’s right, I am an android,” Lore said with a smirk, “And you’re just a sophisticated toy.” Then he wrenched her arm pulled the phaser out of her hand. He didn’t even check the setting before he fired it at her chest. Ceres was blasted back a few feet; her eyes dimmed and her entire body went slack as she collapsed to the floor.

“Laughter was your distraction?” asked Data in disbelief as he walked over to their captor to examine if she had indeed shut down.

“No...I think I cracked...it worked though, did’t it?,” Lore replied frankly. “What was I supposed to do, wait for you to do something? Two of us against just her? Seriously, what do they teach you in Starfleet?”

Data didn’t justify his brother’s inquest with an answer. He delicately removed the tech band off of Ceres’ arm and examined it.

“If she has been feeding Soong commands we should figure out how exactly this works,” he commented thoughtfully.

Lore didn’t have the patience to wait. All he knew was that his family was alone with Delia and Soong could change his mind at any moment about what he planned to do with them all.

.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to note that since starting another story where Wesley is a normal teenaged boy returning to edit this story is very trippy. I still plan to finish this one...it’s just sort of gotten away from me. Maybe I should have kept it simple after all. Sigh.


	25. Insult to Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The drama continues but things seem to take a turn in the right direction.

Soong reentered the room where Delia had finished relaying her story. He walked up to the emerald skinned woman and kissed her with affection. Geordi looked away, uncomfortable with the display. Wesley, on the other hand, didn’t look away. She was glad she stayed focused when she caught site of a small tech band hiding up Delia’s sleeve.

“You know, Delia is a biological life form,” Wesley said, loud enough not to be ignored. 

Geordi tried to whisper a warning to the young woman, but she was already too annoyed to listen to him.

“So are you, Lee,” rebutted Soong. “Lore was quite happy with you until you vanished on him, as I recall.”

“But you’re about to start a war on organic life with a humanoid, biological woman by your side,” she blurted.

“War? Silly girl, there’s not going to be a war,” corrected Soong. 

“What?” This time it was Geordi who let the comment slip.

“Data has spent his lifetime trying to ensure his rights as a recognized, sentient individual,” Soong told them. “I don’t want to create a war with weapons and violence. I want to create a movement; establish a race of synthetic beings.”

“Does Ceres know that?” Geordi asked with a dubious air. “She seems pretty set on violence.”

“You don’t know her,” replied Soong, “she actually very passive.”

“Look, we don’t care what you want to do,” countered Wesley. “Just let us all go back to our lives and we won’t pursue retribution.”

Delia smiled smugly and reached her other hand up her cuff and Wesley was sure she was doing something.

“Fine,” conceded Soong after a moment. Then as he came closer to her his expression hardened. “You admit that Oona and Zoe belong with us and I won’t have to murder you in cold blood to take them.”

“What!?” Geordi was standing between them now. “No, that’s never going happen.” All he wanted was to go home and be back with his own son, but he would be damned if he was going to abandon these two children to this monster.

“This doesn’t concern you,” Soong said cruelly as he shoved the man out of his way. When Geordi thudded to the floor, Zoe jumped up and stood in front of the android.

“Uncle Data was right,” she huffed, “you’re not my grandpa.”

Erol Soong chuckled at her sweet little outburst. While the girl distracted him, Wesley moved to attend to Geordi, his shoulder was dislocated from the impact and he was not in any hurry to stand up again. The engineer managed to whisper something into Wesley’s ear and she nodded.

Soong seemed to be ignoring them and went to pick up the pouting girl. As he bent down, Wesley stood and tried to insert two fingers into the android’s back. Both she and Geordi were confused when she was unable to locate the secret port that would allow her access to his power switch.

The android felt the rude poke next to his spine. He turned around and violently backhanded Wesley across the face. She instinctively protected Oona with both of her arms and consequently tumbled to the floor face first. She lay opposite Geordi in stunned silence.

Delia went to grab at Zoe when the girl ran for the door in fear. Zoe shrieked in the woman’s face before turning around and crashing into her legs. Delia crumpled in agony. The little girl burst into tears as she hugged her mother. “I’m sorry,” Zoe whined with obvious remorse.

“It’s alright, Zoe. You were just trying to protect yourself,” Wesley told her daughter as she tried to calm her down.

“You little freak!” Delia cried as she cradled her left knee; which was bending the in wrong direction.

“Delia, keep quiet,” demanded Soong as he came beside and examined her broken leg. “You should have known better. I wouldn’t make any sudden movements if I were you,” he advised. “You wouldn’t want to cause any further damage.” The woman glared at him and continued to whimper.

Geordi managed to get up and join Wesley. He coaxed Zoe to hold onto him so that the young woman could try and check the baby after their fall.

Erol Soong sprang back up and unexpectedly took Geordi from behind; pulling him away from the girl. The replicant android had the man by the throat and began to apply pressure to his windpipe. 

“I think it’s time to start cleaning up this mess,” Soong spat venously.

“Stop! Let him go!” Wesley pleaded as she stood up. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t find his switch, or if Delia had something to with how his ethical programming was allowing him to act out so violently. But she was fairly sure that he was losing control and may take her friend’s life. 

“I’m the one who deserves your temper. I’m the one you want,” she shouted.

Soong stopped his tantrum and fixed the young woman with a hateful glare. “Give the baby to your friend and surrender yourself to me,” he told her coldly.

Wesley nodded numbly. When Soong released his iron grip Geordi doubled over and coughed profusely, desperate for air. Then the android called in three of his crew. He ordered two of them to take Delia to the infirmary and the third to escort Geordi and Zoe into another holding room.

“Wes, don’t provoke him,” Geordi croaked, his voice hoarse and raw. Wesley opened the man’s shirt and passed him the synthetic infant.

“Lore thinks it’s best to keep her close to your heart,” she said in return. Her hands trembled with fear and adrenaline. 

Geordi cradled the baby against his chest with the hand of his uninjured arm. Zoe started crying again, but obediently left the room with the engineer.

“Alone at last,” Soong hummed from behind her. 

Wesley turned to face him. She was resigned to whatever fate he had in store for her. The Soong android began move towards her and for some reason she began to cry.

Soong stopped dead in his tracks and made a pained face at her weeping. “Lee, stop crying,” he moaned unsympathetically.

“I can’t help it,” she said through her tears as she put her hands up defensively and continued to ball her eyes out in hysterics.

She could hear him groan as he sat down on the couch and held his head in both hands. Wesley slowly began to realize that he wasn’t coming at her; he wasn’t being aggressive at at. She had been so sure after watching him take out his anger on Geordi that he would have it in for her.

“What are you doing?” she dared to ask as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

“You’re exhausting,” he complained as he heaved a heavy sigh and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

“I am?” she asked quietly as she be narrowed her eyes at him.

“You; Lore...all of this,” he added as he guested with his arms at the room. She guessed that he meant the ship and his plot, but wasn’t exactly sure. “I just wanted the chance to take Zoe back. To give her the life she deserves, but you didn’t go to prison,” he said as he wagged an accusatory finger at her, “and Lore....well he rose from the dead.”

“I don’t understand...” Wesley said slowly as she kept her distance from him.

“Lore and Data were flawed, but Noonien Soong finally got it right when he made Juliana,” he said as he stood and faced her. “He made me next and I’m perfect. I’m the android he always wanted. The son to carry on his legacy.” 

She could hear the bitterness and distain in his voice and frowned. “And then he died,” she finished for him.

“That’s right...he died,” he said with an eerie calm. “But you know what he did before he died?”

Wesley had no idea where he was going with his train of thought, so she shook her head and hoped he wouldn’t yell at her.

“He called Data back to him,” Soong said angrily. “After all that belly aching about his lost son that he could never hope to see again!” He paused and seemed to be trying to regain his composure. “Not only did Data show up, but Father had an emotions chip for him. I didn’t know about the chip until everything came to light about Lore...Lore whom you still pined for after all that he’d done.”

“So, what? You’re angry because Dr. Soong lied about knowing where Data was?” she asked, tiered of his pointless exposition.

“If Noonien Soong had Data, why did he need me!?” he blurted with outrage. “What purpose do I serve if I’m just some redundant resource for his research!? I’m a person! I spent my whole existence believing I was everything he ever wanted! But I wasn’t! I was just second fiddle to Data! I only existed to serve Data!”

“Erol, you’re more than just Data’s keeper,” she said softly, hoping not to offend him further. “In fact, Data doesn’t need a keeper.”

The android shook his head as he pointed his finger at her again. “You’re right. I’m not Data’s keeper,” he told her, his voice more eerie lyrics calm than before. “Father’s death was the best thing that could have happened to me. Now, I’m free. With Delia by my side we can be a real family. Just the five of us.”

Wesley took an instinctive step back. She was sure that he was crazy. “Five?”

“Me, Delia, Zoe and Oona; and Data of course. Once I’ve reset him,” he explained. “Lore is unstable. He’s always been unstable. He’ll have to be destroyed.”

A look of horror must have fallen across her features because the replicant android clicked his tongue and smile coldly. “You know I’m right. Even now he’s beginning to remember who he is; who he really is. Trust me, you were better off without him.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” she muttered to herself.

“That just leaves you and your friend. You really should have stayed on your ship, Lee.”

Before she could take another step back he grabbed her arm. “Don’t worry,” he said without pity, “Zoe will grow up stronger without you to hold her back.” 

Then he mercilessly pulled her against him. It was as though everything was suddenly in slow motion. She could feel his hot hands take hold on either side of her head. That was when she understood. He was about to snap her neck. As the pressure increased and he readied to make his final move, someone entered the room and fired a phaser. The beam singed her hair as it hit its intended target. Then the android holding her in a death grip dropped to the carpet, almost taking her with him.

“Lee, come over here,” Lore called as he kept his weapon steady.

She wasn’t sure he was real. For some unknown reason she hesitated. Perhaps it was the cold glint in his eye, or the complete lack of trembling in his hands. Something felt different about him. For the first time she believed that maybe he could actually kill someone.

“I only stunned him. The setting was pretty high, but he could come around at any moment,” Lore told her with some urgency. When she still looked dazed and confused he tried one more time. “Come here,” he said again as he held out his hand.

Wesley jolted out her daze when she saw him extend his hand. She took it and allowed him to guide her to stand behind him. Time still seemed to be moving erratically. Some moments were slow and others sped up so quickly that it was difficult to focus.

Just as she was out of harm’s way, Erol Soong groaned loudly and sat up. Both Lore and Wesley looked surprised at how quickly he recovered.

“Stay on the floor,” Lore commanded. Soong ignored the request and started to stand back up. So Lore adjusted the setting on the phaser and fired it, disintegrating the arm of the couch for effect. “On your knees,” he said this time.

Seeing that the weapon was definitely not on a stun setting anymore Soong did as he was asked and knelt on the floor. He put his hands on the back of his head without being asked.

Data entered the room and looked back and forth between the two other androids. Then he looked at Wesley and raised his brows. “Are you injured?” he asked calmly as he observed the damage to her face, most prominently her left cheekbone.

“I’ll live,” she said quietly. “Data, Delia had a tech band like Ceres. You should get it off of her and destroy it.”

Data gave her a nod before addressing Soong. “We have deactivated all the other non-Soong-type androids,” he informed him. “Geordi was able to hack into Ceres and retrieve their fail-safe codes. I have dropped us out of warp and we have signalled the Enterprise.”

“It’s all over,” mused Lore. “Your kidnapping days are done.”

The golden android gave his brother an odd look before continuing. “Why did you not just make contact? If you had simply explained who you were and how we were connected we would have—I would have welcomed you with open arms.”

Wesley caught her friend’s correction. He was probably right; Lore would not have been so accepting. Especially given how he’d just tried to kill her.

“I wanted to,” he began to explain as he looked up at Data from his lowered position. “I sent Delia as a scout to confirm that Zoe was who we believed her to be and approach you, Data.” He paused and looked to the floor. “Things became complicated. Ceres wanted action and I’d run out of excuses.”

“I can’t believe some sex droid is more important to you than your own family,” said Lore.

“Lore, it would be prudent to recall that Ceres had been in Erol’s life more than either of us,” Data noted with importance. “We are strangers to him, while she would have been like family.”

“That was always your problem, Lore. You were so close minded. You never really learned to trust anyone,” said Soong with a tilt of his head. “No wonder Dr. Soong and Juliana believed you to be a murder.”

“Kettle black, Erol!” shouted Lore with distain. “He was about to kill Lee when I stopped him. You’re welcome by the way,” he told Data over his shoulder.

“Were you? Why?” Data asked as he focused on Soong. 

“You know why,” Soong said through gritted teeth as he glared at the woman hiding behind Lore. “She’s a manipulative liar.”

“No, Erol!” yelled Wesley sick of listening to his accusations. “Delia and Ceres are the liars! I think they’ve been using you. Playing off of one another trying to push you to do what they want and when you don’t, they use their tech to force you and you don’t even know it!”

“No...that’s not possible. You have no proof!” rebutted Soong in outrage.

“Go on...call her a liar again,” snarked Lore as he played with his phaser.

Wesley was suddenly done with them. They could be arguing for hours at this rate. Her head was buzzing and she everything felt surreal. So, she decided to go and find Geordi and the two children. She heard Lore call her name as she left the room, but didn’t answer.

Data watched her leave, but kept his attention fixed on Lore and his phaser. “Lore, perhaps you could give me your weapon and retrieve the tech from Delia. Afterwards, Wesley may require your assistance with the children.”

His brother frowned and stomped his foot in frustration. He secretly doubted that he would actually be able to fire a phaser at anyone while he knew that it was set to kill. So he surrendered it to his brother and took off after Wesley. Erol’s eyebrows were up like a shot. He never expected that Lore would ever take orders from anyone, least of all Data.

“You know, Data, if you let me take Oona to my lab I can fix her,” said Soong as he watched the golden android with interest.

“No. She is fine without your intervention,” he replied plainly as he trained the phaser on him.

“She could remain exactly as she is for the rest of her existence,” Soong countered. “Doll sized and unintelligent.” Then he softened and sighed. “Lee might be right about Ceres, though I can’t believe the same about Delia. Destroy their tech units and take as many of your security officers as you feel necessary, but we should do right by Oona.”

Data considered the other android’s words for a moment. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “What do you propose?”

......


	26. Upgrade/Downgrade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geordi is far from happy with how things are going. Wesley makes the mistake of talking to Delia in Sickbay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for darker themes; suicide, self-harm.

Wesley found Geordi on the Bridge of the ship. Zoe ran over to her almost immediately. She hugged her daughter and finally felt a little more grounded in reality again. She was sure that Zoe was going to need hours of therapy after all the frightening things she’d endured in such a short time.

The chief engineer was seated in what might have been the captain’s chair. He smiled weakly as she joined him. Wesley could tell that the man’s shoulder was causing him pain. She knelt down to check on the infant still tucked into his shirt. To her surprise, Oona’s eyes were open and staring up at them.

“I think she might need feeding,” Geordi said quietly as he supported the back of the infant’s little head. Before Wesley could make a reply the computer alerted them to the arrival of another ship in the quadrant. It was the Enterprise.

“Unidentified vessel, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise,” began their Captain. Wesley quickly accepted the hail and opened a proper channel. Picard’s expression was a mixture of surprise and concern when he realized who and what he was looking at.

“Captain, are we ever glad to see you!” came Geordi’s grateful response.

“Mr. LaForge,” said Picard with a tug to straighten his red uniform jacket. “Sorry for the delay, but that ship did some damage to our engines before it took off at warp. Since we had believed it was destroyed we were unprepared for the sudden onslaught. Am I to understand that you have things well in hand?”

“I don’t know if I would say that exactly, but Data and I were able to subdue most of the crew. They’re androids, believe it or not,” Geordi informed him with a bit of a smirk.

“That is unusual. Where are Data and Lore?” asked Picard with uncertainty.

“They’re with the real Erol Soong,” replied Wesley. “It’s a long, complicated story that I’m not entirely sure I understand.”

“Indeed, Ensign Crusher. I will be expecting a full report and debriefing from the both of you,” said Picard with a frown. “It is not usual protocol to act first and ask for forgiveness after the fact.” Both Geordi and Wesley looked fairly unhappy with themselves. Then the captain softened ever so slightly. “I hope everyone is one piece and ready to return home.”

Suddenly, Lore entered the Bridge and scooped up his daughter in his arms. “Captain Picard,” he said with a nod to the screen.

“Lore, I see you are back in control of your own actions,” Picard noted as he watched the human looking android with the little girl.

“Yes, sir,” Lore replied, deciding to keep the fact that he could now remember more than ever to himself. “Data is just taking the other Soong-type android into custody. We shouldn’t have anymore trouble from him.”

Wesley gave him a sideways glance. She wasn’t sure what he meant, but she didn’t care for his smug tone.

“I will send a security team over to assess what to do with the crew of that ship,” Picard said as he glanced back at Lt. Grayson behind him.

“Captain if I may,” said Data as he entered the space with Erol Soong behind him. “I would like permission to take Erol Soong and Oona down to Terlina III. It would appear that he may be able to correct the error that has caused the delay in her development.”

“Data, don’t listen to him,” said Lore as he turned and fixed his brother with a cold look. “He’s probably lying to you to get away.”

“I can help you as well, if you’ll let me,” Soong said to Lore with something akin to affection in his voice.

“No thanks. I think I’d rather be the mess that I am and not risk whatever deception you might have in mind,” Lore replied.

The replicant android shook his head before addressing the screen. “Delia Ashton needs proper medical attention,” said Soong in an effort to gain leniency. “I won’t go anywhere without her. Take her back to the Enterprise and we will rejoin you once the child is seen to.”

Captain Picard felt a little out of sorts. It was as though he was seeing an optical illusion. Getting used to having Lore around—even as human as he now appeared—was one thing; but adding a third android with the same face, voice and mannerisms was unsettling to say the least.

“I believe we can trust him, sir,” added Data, “now that Ceres and Delia Ashton have been apprehended.”

“I can stay with them, Captain,” offered Geordi. He knew it was a long shot, but it was better than abandoning his friend and the infant he now felt so connected to.

Their captain seemed to hesitate. He paced back to consult briefly with Comdr Riker and Counsellor Troi seated in their usual places. When he turned back to the view screen he gave a reluctant nod. “As long everyone else returns to the Enterprise; including Delia Ashton. That will be acceptable. I will also send Lt. Grayson down to make sure things don’t get out of hand again.”

Wesley leaned down kissed the top of Oona’s head. Geordi felt less and less strange to have such a close physical intimacy with the ensign. He gave her a grin when she looked him in the eye and wordlessly communicated her concerns to him. He knew she was worried, but he knew that she trusted him implicitly.

The young woman went to Lore’s side. He looked down at her and for the first time since regaining his confidence he looked unsure. “Are you alright?” he whispered to her. She shook her head but made no comment. They would have to deal with their issues later. Then she nodded to her captain and tapped her comm badge to make it easier to pick up. 

Although annoyed that Data was staying behind, Lore was eager to get off the alien ship. He continued to hold his daughter close as the three of them beamed off back to the Enterprise.

.....

The four men—two human and two androids—beamed down to the lab. Data couldn’t help the foreboding feeling that washed over him as he looked around. He hadn’t been to his deceased father’s lab since the day that Lore had stolen the emotions chip and he was suddenly glad that his brother hadn’t joined them. If he could feel uneasy about a time when he had no emotional ability, then there was no telling what sort of feelings and memories being there might drag up for Lore.

Geordi was skeptical at first. After all, Erol Soong had tried to choke the life out of him not too long ago. He kept his distance as the two androids conferred about the synthetic infant. Oona was still being held securely against the engineer’s chest. Her tiny form making the man long to hold his own child. Strangely, the longer he was her guardian the more he felt as though she belonged to him; her dark eyes looking into his with such trust and innocence.

“She really is a marvel,” said Grayson as he peered over Geordi’s shoulder at Oona. 

“I know. She’s the only reason I agreed to any of this,” Geordi replied.

“Are you alright, Mr. LaForge? Did someone try to choke you?” asked the Chief of Security with concern. Before Geordi could answer Data was calling him.

“Geordi.” The engineer looked up when he heard Data say his name. He frowned slightly that he would now be expected to relinquish Oona to their care. 

“Be gentle,” he commented as his friend carefully took the baby from him.

She made no sound and barely moved. It was difficult to tell that she was conscious except for the fact that she was looking around at every face that came close to her. 

“This is new,” murmured Data as his noticed how intently the little one was watching him.

“Yeah, I think she just opened her eyes while we were talking with the captain,” offered Geordi while he hovered close beside his friend.

“Place her on her back on the table,” instructed Soong. 

Grayson moved closer with his phaser at the ready. “Calm yourself,” added Soong with click of his tongue. “Security guys, always eager to fire a weapon.”

Data gave Grayson a look and the fair haired man back down a little. Then Data did as he was told and put Oona on the table, but kept a hand on her middle as a precautionary measure. She was so small that his hand covered most of her body. 

“How much do you believe you can advance her growth?” Data asked as he observed Soong take a few readings.

“Hopefully enough to understand whether or not she has a functional brain,” replied Soong plainly.

“She’s looking around and seems quite aware of things,” said Geordi.

“Ah, but does she understand any of it?” quipped Soong. “Does the information get relayed anywhere, or is it just the illusion of consciousness?”

Geordi’s frown deepened. He felt helpless and he hated how there was nothing he could do but wait. Plus his shoulder was killing him and his throat was raw every time he swallowed. He wanted to get out there as soon as possible. Data seemed to sense his distress and gave him a reassuring look.

“The biggest obstacle she’s had so far is that the biological component failed to initiate; leaving her a robotic shell,” Soong explained. “Now her systems are trying to compensate and fill in the gaps. This seems to have gone well at first, but there are only so many minerals and enzymes that can be extracted and converted from a biological host. Moving her to Data and ensuring she got the required supplements to ‘grow’ helped quite a bit.”

“Until that monster, Ceres, ripped her out of her incubation unit,” grumbled Geordi. Data had to agree. The situation was not ideal.

“Bloody hell, did she really do that?” asked Grayson. He was doing his best to stay invisible, but he found it hard not to comment on something so awful.

“Yes, well...that wasn’t what I had intended. I was thinking we could continue her care outside of Data within the same unit,” added Soong. “If I do this correctly, she’ll evolve to a proper size and stage of development to function on her own.”

Erol Soong connected a tube into the infant’s belly in the same location that Data and Geordi had attached one previously. Oona didn’t react, but seemed to keep her attention on Data. She was so small that Soong had to move the android’s hand in order to access her stomach.

Then Soong used a tool to cut an access port into the side of the baby’s head. Geordi had to turn away. He knew she was synthetic and showed no signs that she couldn’t feel it, but it made him feel sick to see her treated like a machine. Grayson seemed to feel the same as he adverted his eyes momentarily as well. 

When Soong furrowed his brow as he took a look inside the tiny skull Data became concerned. “What is wrong?” he asked. Data knew that if there was no positronic brain then there was no sense in moving forward.

“This is not what I expected,” he replied quietly. 

Data leaned over and had a look for himself. He could see the blinking lights and obvious indications of activity. One corner of his mouth tweaked, creating a lopsided smile. “Geordi, she has a matrix,” Data said with a touch of awe.

The engineer rushed over to where he could catch a glimpse of the infant’s inner workings. “How? How can she possibly have developed a matrix on her own?” Geordi questioned in disbelief. “This isn’t possible. It could take months to build one, even if Dr. Soong himself created it.”

“It has been months, Geordi,” Data said as he continued to smile. “She has been developing for several months. Perhaps we were wrong. Perhaps she was so slow to grow because her brain was being formed first.”

“It’s still impossible, Data,” said Geordi. “I mean...we’re talking about something against nature here. There isn’t a single part of her that is organic and yet somehow she’s build a brain?”

“He’s right,” said Soong, “this isn’t natural. The synthetic DNA should have been dependant on a biological brain; like Zoe.”

“Perhaps this coding was different. Perhaps Father wanted to try something new,” countered Data.

Grayson was completely lost. He had no idea what the three of them were talking about. He figured it had something to with the blinking lights, but the rest was meaningless.

“Delia said the samples were meant for you, Erol,” Geordi commented as he reconsidered the facts. “But I think that maybe she was wrong.”

“Geordi?” Data questioned as he watched his friend make his deduction.

“Dr. Soong was so afraid of losing Juliana that he broke his own code of conduct and made an android so that he could transfer her memories and brain wave patterns; essentially creating a new version of her,” Geordi said as he worked it out. “Maybe this synthetic DNA wasn’t like the older stuff because it was meant to work in reverse?”

“You mean to say that my father had intended to have a child with the android Julianna? That this synthetic procreation matter works to mimic an ovum and not the sperm? Or perhaps has no requirement of any human DNA,” Data surmised. Then he and Geordi looked over at Erol. 

“Erol, you don’t have an off switch,” Geordi said out of the blue.

“Because Dr. Soong didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to turn me off,” he replied. “It was one of his greatest regrets with you, Data.”

Data considered this for a moment. “Then you are not like Oona? You really are an android built by my father?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been saying this entire time,” Soong told him. “And just like Juliana, Dr. Soong copied his memories to me. For the first ten years of my life I was convinced I was him. It was very confusing. Then I started to realize that I could be my own person. I didn’t have to restrict myself his life and his hermit lifestyle.”

“You really should have made contact. This whole ordeal could have been avoided,” Data said regret.

“Well, it’s happened now and I’m counting on you to help me work something out for Ceres and her friends,” said Soong in response. He connected a cable to the baby’s exposed workings as he talked. “You can help your friends in Starfleet understand how mistreated and confused they all were.”

“Can I?” countered Data unconvinced that this was his prerogative somehow.

“Sure, after all they’re just like you. Synthetic life forms who want the chance to be recognized as individuals.”

“As long as you’re not planning to hold Oona hostage,” noted Geordi coolly.

“Look, what happened with you and Lee was a mistake,” Soong explained quickly as continued to work. “I gave into a moment of anger...anger that was probably more the original Soong’s than mine.”

“Wait, what happened with Wesley?” asked Geordi with concern.

“Lore claims that he stopped Erol from killing her,” said Data.

Geordi made a noise of derision. “Are you kidding? Data! What the hell are we doing here!?” he shouted with indignation. “How can you trust a man, android or otherwise, who almost murdered someone you care about?”

“He offered to help Oona, Geordi,” Data said sadly. “Besides, Wesley is fine.”

“He tried to strangle me!” he shouted with distress, “And I didn’t get this dislocated shoulder on my own!”

“You and I have done all we can to help Oona. What other choice do I have?” Data counter firmly.

The engineer had heard enough. He wasn’t sure what to believe anymore and he suddenly didn’t recognize his best friend. He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I have to go. I’m sure Grayson here will help you if you need him.”

The engineer exchanged a look with the security officer. Grayson understood what was at stake and he made sure to keep an eagle eye on both androids.

“Geordi...” Data wanted to follow him in his retreat, but he also needed to keep contact with Oona. So he made no further attempt to stop him from making the request to beam back to the Enterprise.

“He’ll forgive you,” muttered Soong. “Delia always finds a way to forgive me.”

Data wasn’t entirely sure what it was that he had done wrong. All he did know was that he wasn’t going to lose Oona like he had lost Lal.

....

Wesley waited in Sickbay for Alyssa Ogawa to finish healing her cheekbone. It turned out that it was fractured she had just been too wired to noticed. Delia glared at her from across the room. Her knee had been stabilized, but she wouldn’t be running any marathons any time soon.

Zoe was sent off with Deanna to talk over what had happened and make sure she wouldn’t suffer any emotional scars. Wesley planned to check in on them when she was released. 

The nurse gave her a nod, but instead of leaving Wesley turned towards Delia. “I hope you enjoy your court martial,” she snarked.

Delia brushed back her wild hair and smirked at back at her. “Oh please, I’ll be resigning,” she said. “Who wants to be a part of an organization who would clear someone like you of murder charges.”

Wesley’s hands balled into fists. She knew she should ignore the woman’s taunts, but something in her pushed her forward. “Excuse me?”

The security officer closest to them seemed to notice the aggression in her tone. They exchanged a look and Wesley tried to calm down a notch. She took a step closer to the half-Orion and lowered her voice. “I hope I never see you again.”

“The feeling is more than mutual,” replied Delia. “You really are terrible, you know that don’t you? I mean, if I were you I would have killed myself already. Your bastard lover moves you to murder someone on his behalf and then he doesn’t even have the decency to survive....or to stay dead,” she rambled harshly. “No one wants you, ‘Lee’. I’ve seen your unofficial medical file...you’re just a bunch of unwanted parts...parts the ‘real’ Wesley Crusher didn’t want. Your only actual accomplishment since joining Starfleet has been Zoe and even she’s better off without you.”

Wesley knew that Delia was attempting to be hurtful on purpose. She knew she shouldn’t give her words any worth. But she had been through a lot and for some horrible reason every word weighed heavily on her psyche. It didn’t help that the woman was just saying out loud what she had been saying in her head for weeks. 

She wasn’t good for anyone and no one really needed her. The last time she saw Lore he was all together frightening. Even when they’d beamed over he looked ready for a fight. Data was always unpredictable around her and she knew in her heart that was better off without her too.

Wesley walked numbly through the corridors. Her heart slowly sinking into her boots. All of this was her fault. If she could go back and change it she would. Her mind drifted back to when all her troubles began...back to the academy when she was still a young man and friends with Cadet Josh Albert. 

She could still see his smiling freckled face that morning when he’d asked if he thought he was ready to do the formation. Wesley had lied and said he believed that he could because he knew to say otherwise would shake his friend’s confidence. Knowing Cadet Locarno, and his influence on Josh, he would have most likely gone through with it anyways. Erol Soong was right...she was a liar; a murderer.

Zoe was home safe; that was all mattered. Nothing else seemed to; not her career, not her family and certainly not her life. So she made up her mind. Now it was time to make sure that she wasn’t able to trouble anyone ever again.

Wesley entered her quarters and went straight through to her mother’s bedroom. She dug around in the back of her mother’s closet until her produced a box. Inside it was a gift from Lt. Worf; a fancy ceremonial dagger. Her mother, a physician, was more than a little perturbed by the gift, but she had accepted it graciously. 

She smiled softly to herself. How fitting to kill herself with a Klingon dagger when Klingons didn’t believe in suicide. There was no honour in it unless it was to end a pathetic, physically broken life. She felt that mental brokenness should count for something. 

The bade was beautiful in a dangerous sort of way. She watched as it caught the light before holding it at the ready. Then she decided to sit on the bed, but felt guilty that she would be disrupting her mother’s personal space. So she quickly got up and moved across to her own bedroom. As she sat on her bed and took a deep breath, ready to plunge the blade into her heart a vice-like grip yanked the dagger away from her.

“What in the actual fuck!”

Lore threw the blade against the wall and she crumbled in on herself, sliding to the floor. She hadn’t noticed him come in when she crossed through the main living area of her quarters.

“I leave you alone for five minutes to get patched up and you think it would be a good use of your free time to kill yourself!?” He continued shouting as she sobbed silently at his feet. Then he got down with her and gathered her up in his arms. “I’m sorry, but you scared the shit out of me, Lee. It’s okay...I’m here. You’re not alone.”

He held her tightly against him and began to rock her a little. It reminded her of when her father had died. Her mother spent hours trying to console her—him—but she couldn’t stop the deep, endless pain.

“I am alone, Lore,” she muttered. “I don’t belong here anymore...I’m an imposter.”

Lore had no idea what she was talking about. He decided it didn’t matter. “I love you. I don’t care who you are...you got that? And I am not gonna let you hurt yourself.”

“I’ve done terrible things,” she sobbed. 

Lore kissed her temple and shook his head. “My love, we’ve both done terrible things, but sometimes terrible things have to happen...or can’t be helped.”

She felt as though she’d been running on empty since the moment she had come back from the past all those months ago. She’d forgotten how much she really needed him and how much he could actually help her to feel normal. He was the only person in her life who didn’t talk down to her as though she needed do better, or fix her life. He just accepted her for who she was, flaws and all.

“Do you remember now?” she whispered as she looked up into his blue eyes. It was still strange to her how blue they were.

“Not everything...some of it is still missing,” he confided. Lore had some idea now of what went down with Maddox; the blood flowing from the man’s neck, the blood on her hands. He knew in his heart that he was the one who changed her, had moved to be capable such violence. “I’ve remembered that I’m a sociopathic monster with violent tendencies,” he told her plainly. “So I know I’m bit of a disaster, but that’s nothing new.”

“Poor Zoe, her parents are such screw ups,” she whined.

“So what? Who needs perfect parents?” rebutted Lore. “My parents were far from perfect. You thought you’re parents were perfect and you pushed yourself so hard that you thought the best way to solve your problems was to kill yourself.”

“What else can I do?” she asked frankly. Then she starting crying all over again.

“You’re exhausted. I’m sure it didn’t help that I walked out on you the moment after we made up. You must have lost your mind not knowing what was happening.”

“I was so worried...I just keep making so many mistakes,” she said as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. “I want to do better, but I keep falling apart.”

“Then fall apart,” he said softly. “It’s your turn. You’ve earned it. I’ll be here to pick up the pieces. And if I’m not enough we’ll get you the help you need.” 

Lore was beginning to understand the bigger picture. Lee wasn’t just some gift from the gods who fell in love with him and saved his humanity. She was a very damaged individual who maybe never gave herself the proper time or tools to deal with the terrible things that had happened in her life. She was too focused on being what everyone else expected of her and didn’t want to admit how lost and broken she was.

“What about Data and Oona?” she asked him sadly.

“Don’t worry about them. And don’t worry about Zoe,” he replied kindly. “The rest of us are fine. My hands don’t even shake anymore. Just focus on you.”

Wesley didn’t really want to focus on herself. It was the one thing she never wanted wanted to do anymore. But she nodded anyways and let him believe that she would do her part.

.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading to anyone who still is. I think in retrospect this was more like an exercise of pushing myself. Not sure how success or entertaining it is...it just is. Almost done. If you need some fluff go check out my other story about Lal :)


	27. Shuffling the Deck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geordi comes home to a less than warm welcome. Wesley decides that maybe it’s time to move on.

Geordi felt a hundred times better now that his shoulder was repaired and the bruising around his neck was healed. He entered his office in Engineering and was expecting to be met with either outrage, or affection. Instead he received neither. Robin gave him a quick glance and went about her work on the monitor in front of her.

“I know you must be angry, Robbie,” he began, deciding to humble himself to his partner. “I recklessly ran head first into danger and didn’t stop to think of you, or Jayden.”

“Stop,” she commanded putting up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it and I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?” he asked in return, baffled by her admission.

“Sure, I was a little upset when I found out that you and Wes had taken off without telling anyone; but then Barclay had a melt down and I got called in to take charge of Engineering,” she explained with a grin. “It was phenomenal! I forgot what a rush it can be when the chips are down and the whole ship is counting on you to come through and keep everything working above and beyond how it should.”

Geordi frowned a little at her excitement. “So, you were glad I was gone,” he added as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

“Oh please. I was worried for you, but I knew you would pull through,” she told him dismissively.

“Um, Robin are we okay?” he asked a more than a little uncertain.

“Oh sure. Now if you’ll excuse me I have a few reports I want to finish before I hand the reigns back over to you,” she said frankly without looking up from her screen. “Unless of course you don’t want to come back just yet as Chief and I could take over. I mean, you could take some paternal leave and stay home with Jayden for awhile,” she babbled.

“Now that you mention it, where is our son?” he asked with concern.

“He’s with Troi. At least he was,” she said without any concern of her own. 

“Uh huh. And it doesn’t bother you that we were in a crisis situation and you’re not exactly sure?” he questioned as he observed her detached demeanour.

“It’s Troi, Geordi. Jayden’s fine.”

“Look, why don’t I go locate our infant child while you keep working,” he said a little coldly. He waited for a moment and she didn’t respond right away. “Robin?”

“Yeah, sure. Go,” she told him with another wave of her hand.

......

Lore answered the door to the Crusher quarters. He wasn’t at all surprised to find Geordi standing there in a huff. 

“Let me guess, you’re looking for Jayden? Deanna dropped him by. I hope that’s alright?” he said as he moved aside to allow the man inside.

Sometime between Wesley’s mental break down and Geordi’s return to the ship the children had been deposited into their care. Wesley was seated with Zoe at her little table with Jayden in her arms. She looked very natural and it struck a chord with the engineer.

“See now, we just arrived back from a very stressful, life endangering situation and Wes is cradling my son while his darn mother is basking in her achievements,” Geordi complained as he approached them.

“Geez, humans are strange,” said Lore as went over to pick up Jayden to hand him back to his father.

“Nope, that’s just Robin. She’s an over achiever,” Wesley added as she came over and gave Lore a kiss on the cheek. 

When Lore responded by pulling Wesley into a proper kiss on the lips something in Geordi snapped and he started to tear up. Of course this was something he never did, especially in front of other people. So he closed his eyes to try and regain composure. 

Wesley noticed the strain on her friend’s face and the slight shaking of the man’s shoulders. She knew all too well what he was feeling and very diligently removed Jayden from his arms and handed him back to Lore. 

Lore gave her a look of concern. Wesley knew she had barely pulled herself together, but she also knew that she was the only person at present who could help. She proceeded to lead Geordi into her bedroom to give them some privacy. Once they were seated on her bed she offered the man some tissue. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” he said in little more than a whisper. Geordi was embarrassed and he really didn’t feel as though he could talk to her about his problems. Especially because they involved not one, but two of her former lovers.

“Is this about Robin wanting to be in charge of Engineering?” she asked softly. “She loves you, you know that right?”

“Does she? I’m not so sure sometimes,” he said with brutal honesty. “She barely looked at me when I went to see her and she couldn’t even tell me where Jayden was or who was minding him.”

“Oh Geordi,” she said sympathetically as she dared to wrap her arms around him. “She won’t leave you.”

“You don’t know that,” he rebutted as he gave in and allowed himself to appreciate her gesture by reciprocating the hug. “You should have seen her, she could care less about me and our son. All she wants is her own warp engine.” He buried his head in the bend of her neck. “What will I do if she leaves and takes Jayden?”

“Don’t let her,” Wesley said firmly. “Robin hated being shipped back and forth between her parents as a kid. Just tell her you want Jayden to stay with you and you’ll fight her for him if she choses to take another commission.”

“I can’t do that,” he said sadly. “She’s the one who’s been with him.”

“Fuck it, Geordi. If Robin decides to be selfish then you have to be prepared to be selfish too,” Wesley told him frankly.

Geordi pulled away a little and looked at her in the eyes. “You’re really serious.”

“Damned straight,” she said adamantly. “I was ready to bend over backwards for her and she still left me. I say your best chance is to assert yourself and your intensions now, or she’ll walk all over you.”

“I kissed Data,” Geordi confessed abruptly.

Wesley was a little taken aback for a moment; not because his admission bothered her exactly. She just never believed that anything would ever happen between the two friends, let alone one of them would be telling her about it.

“And?” It was all she could manage.

“And it was horrible,” Geordi said as he pulled away from her more. “How am I supposed to go on now and pretend like it never happened.”

“It was that bad, huh?” she said with a wince.

“I wish it had been bad. Then I wouldn’t keep thinking about it, or wondering if it was a mistake—I mean of course it was a huge mistake. But I almost lost him; he almost died,” ranted Geordi with emotion.

“Wait...so the actual kiss was good, but the fact that it happened was horrible?” 

“Isn’t that what I just said?”

“Yes, sure it is,” she conceded not wanting to sound as though she was correcting him. He was having a hard enough time as it was. 

“Oh no, are you mad?” he wondered aloud and waited for her to react.

“No, I’m most definitely with Lore,” Wesley assured him. “I would be thrilled if you and Data became serious life partners, or whatever. You know that Data feels the same for you.”

“So you can see why this is so horrible.”

“Geordi, you aren’t actually married to Robin and if she decides to leave you why are you so worried about what could happen with Data?” she pressed.

“Because Robin hasn’t decided to leave me and I haven’t talk to Data about what happened,” he confided as he held his head in both hands.

Suddenly Lore stuck his head in the doorway and gave Wesley a look. “Sorry to interrupt, but someone is here to see Geordi.”

Geordi tried to pull himself together and wiped his eyes with some more tissue.

“If it’s Robin send her in,” Wesley told her lover before her friend could stop her.

“It’s not. It’s Data,” he said in an exaggerated whisper.

“Data?” echoed Geordi with alarm. “Well tell him to give me a moment.”

“Are you alright, Geordi?” came Data’s voice from the next room.

Lore waved for Wesley to come with him. The woman gave her friend an innocent peck on the cheek before following Lore. Data was standing in the doorway and caught the gesture.

“What has happened? Was Robin injured?” Data inquired as he came to stand by the bed. “I reviewed the preliminary reports of all accounts after my brother and I took our leave and I did not see her name listed among the casualties. In fact, there were very few injuries sustained during the return fire.”

“Robin’s fine. In fact she’s more than fine,” Geordi told him as he stared at the floor.

“Jayden appears to be fine as well, therefore I can only conclude that you are unwell. Did you not see Dr. Crusher about repairing your shoulder?” he inquired as he dared to sit next to his friend on the bed. “Perhaps you are still angry at me for trusting Erol Soong? He went willing into custody when we boarded the Enterprise.”

Geordi shook his head. Although he was a little mad about it that wasn’t the real problem. “My shoulder is fine. I think I’m still upset about you and Oona almost dying,” he said plainly. He made sure to include Oona because it was the truth, but also to make it less obvious that he was upset about Data specifically.

The android looked down at his middle out of habit. “Oona no longer needs to be kept in the incubation pod. She is stable and responding well to the adjustments we made.”

“Good,” Geordi replied with a laboured smile. “I’m glad.”

“You do not look glad and it is very strange to find you in Wesley’s bedroom. Have the two of you become closer recently?”

“Maybe we have. I have to say that when Wes became a woman I didn’t feel all that different about her, but now I think that maybe I do. She was always easy to talk to, but now I find myself becoming physically affectionate with her in ways that I’m not sure I would have indulged if she were still a guy.”

“I know you have always found romance with women, however I have observed that your downfall was often social and physical intimacies with women that you deemed as desirable,” noted Data. “It would seem that Robin has assisted you in feeling less awkward in these situations.”

“Wow, You make me sound like a winner,” Geordi rebutted sardonically.

“I meant no offence,” Data told him plainly. He considered that maybe the misunderstanding came from his friend’s current emotional state. “Perhaps you will feel more at ease when you hold Oona.”

“Data...we should talk about what happened,” Geordi said in hushed tones. “About what I said.”

“How you wished that you had figured out how you felt before I almost died?” Data inquired with a familiar tilt to his head.

“Yeah, that,” he replied and sighed a heavy sigh full of regret. 

“I understand, perhaps more than ever, that human relationships are complicated and what may be said in the moment due to emotional distress may not be the true feelings of a person once faced with the consequences of such an admission.”

Geordi made a face and shook his head. “No Data. I meant it. I just don’t what to do about it.”

The golden android was clearly not expecting him to say such a thing and looked a bit surprised. “Then you care for me as more than your friend?”

“Don’t you see? What could be better than realizing you’re in love with your best friend?”

“Then why do you look so sad if it is so wonderful?” Data rebutted.

“I have obligations,” he said softly.

“Wesley’s obligations did not stop her from falling in love with Lore,” the android reminded him.

“Data, it’s complicated,” Geordi pouted.

Data stood and left the room. Geordi thought that maybe he was sick of hearing his excuses, but then he returned with Oona in his arms. At first Geordi wasn’t entirely sure that she was the same baby. She was the size of a three to four month old, the same age as Jayden. She was wearing a pale yellow onesie and her feathery hair, which she had none of before, was flaming red. Only her dark, inquisitive eyes were the same.

Geordi took her in his arms and held her close. “Hello, Oona,” he said as she cooed at him. Hearing her make any sound at all made him smile and he instantly felt better about everything. “You were right, Data. I just needed to hold her,” he added with a chuckle.

“I can wait, Geordi,” Data told him affectionately as he put a reassuring arm around his shoulders. “There is no rush to decide anything right now.”

“Thanks, buddy. And thanks for helping Oona. You were right. She looks much better now,” he replied.

......

Out in the main living space Zoe was reading quietly to Jayden as he swung slowly back and forth in his little automated swing. Wesley lay with her head in Lore’s lap as they watched them interact; Fido was curled up against her middle. 

A moment ago Oona had been in her arms. Her heart felt heavy and sad now that Data had snatched her back. She knew Geordi needed to see that she was alright almost as much as she did, but she hated that she’d only had a moment with her.

“You want your little girl, don’t you?” Lore said with a sigh as he petted her dark hair.

Wesley looked up at him and made a pained face. “I know I told Data she was his, but she’s still mine too.”

“Of course she is,” he said softly. “We’ll make sure he understands how important it is that you’re her mother.”

“Lore...what if we leave?” she suggested as she scratched under Fido’s chin.

“Leave?” he asked as he looked over at his daughter. He wasn’t sure that Zoe would want to leave her friend even if he was a baby. 

She sighed again and hesitated. “Well...you’re doing so well now. And I think I could use a break from all the drama and danger...” she said slowly. “I just think maybe we could move to Atrea IV, like we talked about.”

“I’m not against the idea, but I don’t know if Data will be alright with us taking Oona with us,” Lore told her with honesty. “And I know Robin likes it when you mind her son, but that’s a really long way to commute just for a babysitter,” he added, jokingly.

“I know, you’re right,” she conceded.

“But...maybe we could go for a month or two,” he said after reconsidering the idea. “You know, like a mental health holiday for you.”

“I would still want to take Oona, Lore,” she said adamantly. “While I was detained at Starfleet Command the Enterprise crashed. It was sickening how long I had to wait to find out if Zoe and my mom were alright.”

“Damn, I didn’t realize,” he said in amazement. “Alright, Oona will go with us. Don’t worry about my brother. I’ll explain everything to him.”

“You’ll be nice?” Wesley asked as she leaned up on one elbow and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

“Yes, Lee. I’ll be super nice,” he said flatly.

She wasn’t sure that she believed him, but she didn’t have the mental capacity to do it herself. So she reluctantly delegated the task to him.

.....

Several days later, after much deliberation, Erol Soong and Delia Ashton were released with a warning and allowed to return to their home on Terlina III. Jararn and his crew, which was finally revealed to include Ceres’ synthetic followers, were also allowed to be on their way as long as the Federation saw no further reason to persecute them. It would be written up as a grave misunderstanding.

As for Ceres, she was arrested on criminal charges for endangering several of the crew, both her own and that of the Enterprise. It was discovered that the command device she kept on wrist was being used to control the wills of her comrades and perhaps even Erol Soong. That was what would be in Data’s official report. 

Robin sat in stunned silence as she watched her friend pack up her daughter’s toys. 

“Oh come on Lefler,” Wesley said as she picked up the puzzle toy Zoe had gotten for her birthday. “It’s only for a couple of months.”

“That’s what you say now,” Robin retorted, “but I bet you won’t come back at all.”

“I need this, Robin. You are always the first person to point out what a mess my life is. This will give me the chance to put it back in order.”

“What about Starfleet?”

“What about it? It’ll always be there. If I don’t take time out for myself now I won’t here anymore period,” Wesley told her.

“Don’t say stupid shit like that, Crusher. You know what your problem is? You chose the wrong brother,” Robin complained.

Wesley held her tongue. She wanted to warn her friend that if she wasn’t careful Data was going to steal Geordi away from her. But it wasn’t her place. It wasn’t her relationship.

Beverly knocked on the door frame as she came to check on things. “Hey girls, Zoe is practicing piano and Oona is fed and changed. It’s still sort of strange that an android infant needs to be fed and changed,” she rambled.

“Thanks, Mom. You’re the best,” said Wesley with a smile. She had been completely open with her mother about the incident with the dagger. Beverly felt bad about not stepping in sooner. Then again she wasn’t the one who told her to go running off without permission onto an alien vessel to play hero.

“I fed Jayden as well, Robin. I hope that’s okay?” Beverly added.

“Oh thanks, you didn’t need to do that,” Robin replied as she stood. Then she went off into the other room to check on her son.

“Someone had to,” Beverly told Wesley in hushed tones. “Honestly, where is her head?”

“Mom, stop it. Robin hasn’t exactly had it easy either,” her daughter chided.

“She’s had it easier than you, by far,” she rebutted.

“Mom,” Wesley warned again.

“Okay, fine. Not another word from me,” her mother conceded.

“I can’t believe you’re taking Oona with you,” Robin said as the two women joined her in the main room. “Now Jayden will be without both his sisters.”

Wesley caught the look in her mother’s eyes and was amazed when she kept quiet. “I’ll be back before you even notice that we’re gone,” she told her friend.

“I guess Lore will be coming back with you, won’t he,” her friend grumbled. 

“That’s the idea,” Wesley said as she picked up Oona and cradled her against her chest. 

“Data doesn’t mind?” Robin asked with a frown. 

“No, Robin,” Beverly answered on behalf of her daughter. “Data is being supportive. Something you should be too.”

“Mom,” Wesley whined again. “In a few weeks Data is coming to visit. He’s realized that maybe he’s been too dismissive of Juliana and he knows he’s going to miss the girls,” she explained.

“Just tell me one last time...why Lore?” Robin asked as she bounced her son.

“Because Lore and I have this connection,” she confided openly. “A connection I’ve tried to make with others, like you and Data. But he’s the one who’s closed the circuit. We just get each other no matter what.”

“Even when he looks like he could kill you?” said Robin quite snidely.

“Yes, Lefler. Even then,” she said with a laugh.

“And you condone sending your grandchildren to live with this monster?” Robin questioned as she turned her attention to Beverly.

“Reformed monster,” the doctor clarified. “And so help me, I do; because I trust my daughter.”

“Personally, I think your daughter needs a straight jacket and a long stay somewhere peaceful with loads of medication.”

“Thanks, Robin. You always know just the right thing to say,” Wesley snapped coldly. “You can take your son and leave now.”

Robin made a pained face, but knew she wasn’t getting her point across. “I care about you, Crusher. I’m not being pessimistic, or unkind. I’m being brutally honest. Something you seem to praise your precious Lore for all the time, but refuse to listen to if it comes from anyone else.”

“When you can be honest without being brutal, maybe I’ll start listening,” Wesley told her sadly. “Until then, just take care of yourself, okay?”

“You’re my best friend,” Robin said with strain in her voice. “How do you think it feels to have you choose someone else time and time again?”

“It probably feels a whole lot like when you ripped my heart out and threw it back at me,” she rebutted, suddenly seething with resentment. “Don’t pretend that you’ve lost the most, Robin Lefler. I loved you more than anyone and you treated me like some plaything. Well, I’m not here just for your connivence. I have my own life and my own problems. And you’d better watch it, or Geordi will choose someone else too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Robin asked, dumbfounded by the change in her friend’s tone.

Beverly decided to interject. “I think maybe Wesley needs a little timeout. Why don’t you take Jayden home and you can talk again before she leaves,” she advised calmly.

.....


	28. Epilogue—Amanda Comes To Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wesley has two unexpected visitors. Though years apart they each impact her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a call back to Second Time Around’.

“Won’t you miss your uncle?”

“Yeah, but Papa says he will come to visit us at our new home.”

Wesley could hear her daughter talking to an unfamiliar woman. She rushed out of her bedroom and stared in horror at the petit blond who was pretending to sip tea out one of Zoe’s little plastic cups.

“Ah, there you are,” the woman announced as though she had been waiting some time for her to make an appearance. “I see you’ve been busy since we last spoke.”

“What do you want, Amanda?” Wesley demanded without humour.

It felt like an age since she first met the novice Q. She had been full of warnings and bad tidings back then. Nothing good could come from her unexpected visit.

“You seem less than happy to see me. I’m not Q. I won’t snap my fingers and send you back in time to when your life made sense and the universe was rid of Lore,” Amanda rambled as she stood and came closer. “That would remove little Zoe here from existence and she’s just darling.”

Wesley couldn’t tell if the woman was being precocious or sincere. So she continued to stare at her and moved to stand between her and her daughter. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“I only came to wish you luck,” Amanda said with an honest smile. “I will miss the drama and plot twists once you’ve settled down with your sweet little nuclear family.”

“Really? You expect me to believe that you came all this way just to wish me well?” the former ensign snarked coldly.

“Don’t be absurd,” Amanda said with a laugh. “You know as well as I do that coming here was easy and as simple as forming a thought.” Then she became more serious again and looked around the human at her android-hybrid daughter. “I want you to know that I never abandoned you. I was always keeping my eye on you.”

“Excuse me!?” Wesley blurted in disbelief. “You expect me to believe that you were some sort of guardian angel!?”

“Sure...sort of,” the blond said with a shrug. “I kept Q off your back and I kept the other version of yourself from finding you long enough for you to have Zoe...long enough to imprint yourself on Lore.”

“What!?” scoffed Wesley. “You want me to thank you for that!? Lore died in my arms,” she growled under her breath, “I almost lost him forever and now he’s changed.”

“Right...he’s better. He has perspective and experience that has reminded him of how much he loves you. He isn’t stalled in his hatred and loathing of his father and brother any more. He’s regained his humanity.”

“So, I should be thanking you for all the hardship—all the bullshit? No thanks!”

“Wes, everything was always going to go down like it has,” Amanda told her with a sigh. “You know this. I just wanted to take time out to say how proud I am of you that you didn’t roll over and accept a less than exceptional life, even after you were discarded. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. To live knowing that I was the sum of my least desirable traits.”

Wesley ran a hand through her hair as she thought over everything the omniscient being had told her. Life had been unusual these past few years, but she often forgot about who she used to be. At least until quite recently when she had her little break down. How ironic it was to think that when she was a man she saw women as strong and resilient; now as a woman she wondered if she would have been stronger willed if she had remained a man. In the end, she knew it had nothing to do with gender. It was who she was inside that defined her. Maybe she would always be weak.

“A gift bestowed on one brother only to willingly choose the other,” mused Amanda as though reading her mind. “Further proof that you will always defiantly be exactly who you want to be. I admire that about you.”

“Let me guess...you made sure that Lore walked in just in time to stop from making the worst and last mistake of my life,” Wesley said with something akin to shame.

“Maybe,” Amanda replied with a soft smile. “Or maybe he really needed to see you and make sure you weren’t afraid him anymore.”

“I don’t understand. Why me? Why do you care so much about me?”

Amanda came closer and took her hand. “I told you, I admire you. Also...Q has this thing about Data, but he can’t stand you. I saw how instrumental you would be in changing the projection of his existence. You’ve given Data the family he always wanted and so desperately needed. You’ve given him back his brother and brought children into his life. He’s even reconsidering his attachment to Juliana. You will be apart for some time, but he will always return to you. And when he does you’ll be there for him.”

“What are talking about?” Wesley didn’t like the feeling that Amanda’s last statement gave her. It felt too ominous.

“It’s not relevant,” the other woman told her auspiciously. “Not yet.”

It was then that Amanda gave her a hug, which was completely unexpected and unavoidable. Afterwards she turned to the little girl and thanked her for the tea. With a snap of her fingers she was gone.

“That Lady is magical,” giggled Zoe.

“Yeah, she sure is,” said Wesley with a frown.

It wasn’t until years later that Amanda’s words had any meaning.

......

It was a beautiful, sunny day. Wesley was walking along the river bank close to her home on Atrea IV. They had been living there for nearly eight years. Time seemed to be meaningless in the most wonderful way these days. She never regretted leaving the life of Starfleet behind her. Not when she got to spend everyday with her husband and two beautiful, unique daughters.

Lore was having another one of his battle of wits with Zoe. The girl was eleven going on forty. Her mind was as sharp as any android and she would often challenge her father on everything.

Oona, on the other hand was so much like Juliana, quiet and calm. Although she continued to grow and develop she was small, almost half the height of the average girl of her age.

The younger of her daughters stopped on the trail and smiled up at her; red wavy hair blowing in the breeze. Before Wesley could ask her daughter what she was on her mind, the seven year old ran back in the direction from where they were coming from.

Wesley chased after the girl until she caught up to her at the river’s edge. Their was a man standing there with his back to them. Oona stood beside him and offered her hand to him. Wesley’s heart was in her throat when she realized that she knew him. It was Data.

“Oona?” he asked softly. It was as though he was startled out of a dream. He furrowed his brow and gazed down at the girl for a long time. 

Oona was never very talkative. She nodded and proceeded to hug the android as he crouched down to her. Then Data turned and saw Wesley standing behind them with her hand over her mouth.

It had been some five years since he had last come to visit them. Not only that, but it had been two months since they had received the devastating news that he had been killed in action in an explosion.

“Wesley? Is that you?” he inquired as he stood and approached her. She looked older than he remembered, more mature.

She nodded numbly as she looked up at him. “Data?”

He nodded as well and looked around him. “Where are we? Is this Omicron Theta?”

She laughed at little at his question. It was strange that he would think that was where they were since he had no memory of being there when it was a virtual paradise. She had to admit that she often wondered if Juliana had settled here because of the similarities.

“No, Data. This is Atrea IV. Remember? You’ve been here several times,” she told him.

“Of course I have,” he said thoughtfully, but still looked confused. “How did I come be here?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” she said with concern. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Captain Picard was going to sacrifice himself...I could not allow him to do so...” His voice was barely more than a whisper and his eyes were looking off to somewhere, or perhaps some place else. “There was an explosion.”

“That’s right,” she said as she took his hands, hoping to ground him. “We were told that you were destroyed. You were dead.”

Data finally focused and stared into her eyes. “If I am dead, how I am here?”

“Not sure,” she confessed at a loss. Though a part of her felt like maybe she did know. “Why don’t we go back to the house. You can take some time to settle in and then we can discuss what to do next. Lore will be thrilled to see you.”

“Lore? He will be happy to see me?”

“Yes, Data. He was a wreck after he heard you were dead,” she told him. She took her daughter’s hand and began to lead them back down the path.

Data seemed skeptical about this. Their relationship had been turbulent at best. It was one of the reasons he visited so infrequently. Then the golden android stopped dead in his tracks.

“Geordi,” he breathed with sudden realization. “Geordi believes that I am dead. I must contact him as soon as possible.”

“Data..it’s fine. He can wait,” she soothed. “This isn’t just something you spring on someone.”

He fixed her with another expression of befuddled confusion. “How long was I dead?”

It wasn’t exactly something a person asked everyday, but Data was starting to piece together that maybe the incident that caused his demise had not just happened.

“It was a couple of months ago,” Wesley confided. “Geordi is probably only coming to terms with it now. So you should be careful about how and when you contact him.”

“If it was Lore would you not want to hear from him straight away?”

Wesley had to hold back a sudden rush of anger. She would have wanted more than anything to hear from Lore the moment he reactivated. Only back when it had been Lore to rise from the dead everyone had kept it from her for months. It still bothered her to this day.

“Yes, Data, you’re right. You should contact him as soon as you can,” she conceded.

He smiled warmly before bending down and picking up his niece. Oona giggled as he lifted her up to sit on his shoulders. She was getting too old for such things now, but her mother kept her thoughts to herself and let them have their fun. It was so good to have Data back. She only hoped that her husband would feel the same.

......

End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done. I think this story took the longest to write. It may not be my best but it was a good distraction when I started it and I felt like it deserved to be seen through to the end. If anyone is looking for some ‘old school’ Lore he will be featured in my next story “Field Trip”, though not connected to this series. Thank you for reading. Have a lovely day.


End file.
